Deaf News: Teased boy with no ears gets a pair made from his own ribs

The Daily Mail reported yesterday how a deaf boy, born without ears but only small lobes where his ears should have been, has been given two new ears made from cartilage from his ribs.

Keiran Sorkin, aged 9, was born deaf and has had the surgery for cosmetic reasons because the new ears alone will not restore his hearing. The new techniques used by surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London took bone and cartilage from his ribs and crafted them into a shape modeled on his mothers ears. Skin was then pulled over the ears using vacuum suction to give the ears a natural look.

Extract:

They look like normal ears, he had nothing but has got proper sized ears now and they cover the gap where ears should have been. They look normal bar a couple of sewing marks which will go away in time.

‘His reaction was just a “wow”, he is very happy.;

Kieran, of Bushey, in Hertfordshire, was born with a rare condition called bilateral microtia in which the ears are missing or deformed.  Unusually, both of his ears were affected.

He was teased at school and found that other children were more interested in asking about his looks than making friends.

Read more here