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Harry is a lovely little 8 month old boy with severe brachycephaly; often referred to as ˜flat head syndrome”. The condition brachycephaly is best described as a flattened area at the back of the head where the width of the head can be wider than the length.

Harry’s mum began to realise that his head was becoming flat at around 6 weeks and raised her concerns with his health visitor who advised mum to reposition, and that in time the flatness would round out. However mum grew increasingly concerned as over time Harry’s head shape did not improve and in spite of repositioning, Harry’s head shape continued to deteriorate.
When Harry was 6 months old Harry’s mum took him to the GP as the flatness was really worrying her by now and they then referred him to a consultant at Addenbrookes hospital. Harry had a CT scan which ruled out the medical condition craniosynostosis, (early fusion of the bones in the head) but his parents were told there was no more that the NHS could do to correct his head shape. Harry’s parents felt really let down by the NHS as the consultant himself agreed that Harry needed to have a helmet but they could not fund it!

Mum read about The Tree of Hope children’s charity just by chance whilst reading a newspaper article on the internet regarding a baby who was given money by the charity towards the funding of treatment for a helmet. The application process was very simple and quick, and within 6 days they were given the great news that the charity would pay all the money towards Harry having treatment. The Tree of Hope is a small yet wonderful charity offering hope to families who require specialist medical treatment. Jeremy from the Tree of Hope was quoted as saying, The Tree of Hope Children’s Charity is delighted that we were able to help Harry and we are thrilled that he is making such good progres

Harry’s parents chose to go to Technology in Motion as all the feedback from other parents on internet forums was extremely positive, they had also seen an episode of the Channel 4 programme ˜Embarrassing Bodies Kids” which featured TiM and this reassured them that Harry would be in the best hands for the course of his brachycephaly treatment.

At the assessment Harry’s head was measured and scanned and his cranial ratio was found to be 105% which is regarded as very severe. The cranial ratio is the relationship between the width and length of a head with a normal cranial ratio sitting between 78 %and 83%. The aim of the treatment will be to hold the width of Harry’s head and allow all the growth out of the back of Harry’s head thus reducing the cranial ratio.

Mum stated that their clinician was brilliant with Harry and that they explained the process very clearly. The assessment was very relaxed. Harry was even having his lunch whilst being scanned!

Steve Mottram, Managing Director of Technology in Motion said Sadly, Harry’s story is very common and we hear similar stories from many of the parents that we see. The one unusual and hopeful part is that the doctor did recognise that Harry would be helped by using a helmet to treat the plagiocephaly. Most parents are not given a diagnosis, advice on repositioning or information on treatment which is always successful if caught at an early enough age.

Harry was fitted with his helmet on Wednesday 7th Dec and we will keep you updated with his progress.

I really want to raise awareness of this wonderful charity and help them raise money to be able to help other children. I have set up a donation page and any donations will go directly to the charity to help another child have the treatment they need.

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