Joy for surgery girl as UK visa extended

A TEENAGE girl from Trinidad is to undergo life-changing surgery in Scotland after being given permission to stay by immigration officials.

Kade Romain was born without normal ears and was flown to Scotland for a series of major operations to restore her appearance and hearing.

But in June, Scotland on Sunday revealed the 15-year-old, who is fostered by a prominent Angus couple, faced being deported amid problems with her visa.

Yesterday, however, her family said she has now been granted permission to remain in the UK for a further six months, to allow the surgery to take place. Kade was brought up in a children's home in Port of Spain, Trinidad. She suffers from bilateral microtia in which the outer ear is under-developed, although her inner ear is thought to be normal.

Montrose dance teacher Robina Addison, who has an MBE for charity fundraising and holds the post of Deputy Lieutenant of Angus, fostered the teenager last year after first meeting her during a trip to the island 11 years ago.

Usually children born with microtia in the UK have surgery on the NHS but Kade must be treated privately because she is not a British citizen.

One of Scotland's leading private hospitals, Spire Murrayfield in Edinburgh, is waiving a 50,000 fee to do the surgery free of charge.

Last night, Addison, 62, spoke of the family's joy at the news that the surgery is to go ahead, and said: "We are all delighted and relieved that Kade has been given permission to stay in Scotland for a further six months. This means she can have the surgery she needs to give her the appearance she wants and to allow her to hear. We are all so grateful to the surgeons for doing this."

The surgery will involve taking cartilage from Kade's ribs and sculpting it into ear shapes, then grafting them on to the side of her head. A hearing aid will then be implanted into the bone in her skull.

The Addisons had hoped the surgery would be under way by now but due to a bureaucratic mix-up, Kade's visa expired last month and she faced being sent back to Trinidad without the operation taking place.

The Addisons do not plan to adopt the teenager but want her to return to her home country in better health which they believe will give her the chance to study or get a job.