Scots medical team transform life of orphan girl born without ears

Kade Romain was born without ears and missing part of the ear canal, which left her partially deaf. Now the 15-year-old has had one new ear created using her own rib cartilage, with the other one set to be constructed before the end of the year.

The operation was carried out at the Spire Murrayfield Hospital in Edinburgh, where the surgical team agreed to provide their services for free.

The cost of the operations and treatment is believed to be about 50,000. The girl will also get a hearing aid.

Kade was brought to Scotland by dance teacher Robina Addison after a visit to her orphanage in Trinidad.

After problems with her visitor's visa, the teenager was eventually allowed to stay in the UK to allow her to have the surgery. She has been living with the Addison family in Montrose, Angus.

Mrs Addison said: "I fell in love with her the first time I saw her, because she is such a character. She was quite feisty. She had a huge red bow in her hair and she was the boss of the whole orphanage."

Her condition meant she faced a future of begging on the street for a living. It is now hoped she can return to Trinidad, where she hopes to work as a hairdresser or in a bank.

Mrs Addison said: "It has gone through my mind a few times in the last week or two, 'Am I doing the right thing?' But Kade so desperately wanted ears that, you know, she's got to be the one who made the decision and she's going to be really happy. Next year at this time she's going to be a new person."

A team of three surgeons, anaesthetists and other theatre staff volunteered their time for the operations. Consultant Ken Stewart, who constructed Kade's right ear during the lengthy operation, said that in the UK about one in 6,000 children were born with at least one missing ear.

This meant in Scotland the procedure was done on the NHS for about ten children a year, as well as about ten adults who may lose an ear through cancer or in accidents.

"We take the cartilage out of the chest, carve it into the shape of an ear and we put it in into a pocket of skin," Mr Stewart said.The remaining cartilage is then chopped up and inserted back into the cavity in the ribcage, where it reforms into its original shape.

Mr Stewart said in future it may be possible to avoid taking rib cartilage from patients, using other artificial materials and stem cells to create the same effect.

"We have just teamed up with scientists at Edinburgh University who are trying to grow cartilage in the lab," he said.

"Maybe in five or ten years we won't have to harvest the cartilage from the chest. We can use a combination of cultured cells and bio-materials to avoid that step."

Mr Stewart said he hoped the surgery would make a big difference to Kade's life.

"Your ears are like the picture frame of your face, so without ears it draws unwanted attention and people get ridiculed and picked on," he said. "Hopefully that won't happen to her any more."

Kade faces another operation on her other ear just before Christmas, followed six months later by another procedure to add more cartilage behind the ears so they are pushed out into position.