A Donegal teenager who was born without a lower jaw is just months away from surgery that will rebuild his face, according to one of the world's leading facial surgeons.
Dr Eliot Rose was speaking after he spent 10 hours operating on Letterkenny boy Alan Doherty (17) at Mount Sinai hospital in Manhattan. Dr Rose described the operation, which cut a replacement lower jaw and chin from Alan's hip and sewed it on to his back, as a "complete success". It was the first operation of its kind for someone born without a lower jaw.
In October, the surgical team expects to cut the replacement jaw from Alan's back and place it into his face. The two-step technique will allow Alan's body to accept the replacement jaw before it is moved into place. Dr Rose said the jaw had now been attached up to the blood supply on Alan's back, so that his own blood supply was keeping it nourished.
In October, the surgical team will cut out the arteries and veins from the back, along with the jaw, so that Alan will have a ready blood supply when the jaw is attached to the face. Dr Rose said one of the team had already drilled plugs into the replacement jaw so that new teeth could easily be attached when the bone was put in place in October.
Fundraising for the operations is organised by the Physically Challenged Irish and American Youth Team. US team director Bill Broderick said the operations were expected to cost $400,000-$500,000.
The current round of surgery ended at midnight on Monday. Alan's parents, Danny and Bernie, returned to the hospital at 7.45am the next day. Mr Broderick said they were in good form but needed a few days alone with Alan.