A baby girl born with her ears at the front and back of her head had part of her skull removed and put back together “like a jigsaw puzzle”.
Jessica Owens was shocked when daughter Violet was born as her head seemed “pushed to one side”, but doctors at first said all was well with the tot.
Five paediatric doctors insisted there was nothing wrong with her daughter until she went to her GP after eight weeks and was referred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
There Violet was diagnosed with Craniosynostosis, a very rare condition where the bones in a baby’s skull join together too early.
At 16-weeks-old Violet underwent a cranial vault reconstruction, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Mum Jessica, 32, said: “It's like I had this mother's instinct, I knew something was wrong and I felt like nobody was listening to me.
“When I went into Alder Hey I sat next to this consultant and told her I thought Violet had Craniosynostosis, she said to me 'do you know how rare this is?' and I said 'yes, that's why I need somebody to help me'.
"I can't remember if they did a CT or MRI scan, but after that I got the call to say she had Craniosynostosis and that she would need surgery. I was in bits.
“I can't remember much [of Violet's time in hospital] because it was that traumatising. I was worried she wouldn't come out of it.
“I will always remember them [doctors at Alder Hey] telling me once the brain is operated on there's a layer of fluid that covers it, and they said they needed to get the skull off without ripping the top of the fluid otherwise she could have a stroke, be severely disabled or die.
"In the surgery they had to remove the skull, put it on a separate table and put it back together like a jigsaw puzzle.
“The back of her skull is now at the front, and the front of her skull is at the back of her head.”
After the surgery Violet had to wait for her brain to turn itself naturally before having a second at 18-months-old, which lasted 12 hours.
However, she came through both with flying colours and now Violet is four-years-old and has just started school.
She enjoys gymnastics and playing football but returns to Alder Hey for scans every 18 months and sees a number of specialist doctors for her eyes, teeth, jaw, brain and speech.
As a thank you to Alder Hey, Jessica sets up and decorates the neurosurgical ward's Christmas tree every year.
She added: “She came through with no complications. Everyone at Alder Hey was fantastic, I couldn't fault the treatment and care they gave my daughter."
She said: "I always will [set up and decorate the Alder Hey tree]. You can't repay a hospital for saving your child."
