Our jigsaw baby: Boy's skull broken into pieces and fitted back together to stop pressure damaging his brain

A baby boy is recovering from life-saving surgery after his skull was removed and replaced like a jigsaw puzzle.
Six-month-old Liam Rustell's skull was taken out, broken into four pieces and replaced before being fused together properly in a six-hour operation.
Liam was born with a rare birth defect that meant his skull failed to form properly at birth causing an abnormally shaped head.

Six-month-old Liam Rustell has gone through a life-saving skull operation with mum Joanna Jones, dad Sean Rustell and sister Shanae Rustell, aged two.

If left untreated, he could be left with speech or learning difficulties.

Doctors told the baby's parents that the only way to prevent the condition worsening was for surgeons to cut his head apart and carefully glue it back together.

 

His mum Joanna Jones, 26, said from their home in Plymouth, Devon: 'It's been traumatic but the end result is just unbelievable.
'When I found out what the surgery entailed it was a shock - cutting and replacing his skull like a jigsaw puzzle.
'But Liam is so much happier now. I'm just overwhelmed that it's over and done with.'

Liam has made miraculous recovery after surgeons cut away pieces of his skull and put them back together

Liam was born with sagittal synostosis which causes naturally occurring gaps in the skull to fuse prematurely and patients' heads become misshapen.
The condition affects around one in 4,000 children and a small proportion of these require surgery.
Liam underwent an operation at Birmingham Children's Hospital eleven days ago.

The family live in Plymouth, Devon, and are looking for a bigger home so Liam is less likely to bump his head

Joanna said: 'He is absolutely fine now and will hopefully develop normally and will not need a second operation.'