'Our son needs a skull helmet' (From Oxford Mail)

'Our son needs a skull helmet'

2:01pm Sunday 22nd July 2007 in News By Victoria Owen

A family is desperate to raise £2,000 for a helmet which will prevent their baby growing with a deformed head.

Five-month-old Thomas Dawson has severe plagiocephaly and brachycephaly, commonly known as flat head syndrome, and doctors have advised his parents, Joanna and Steven, that he needs custom-made headgear to correct the shape of his skull.

Although Mrs Dawson, 30, said the expensive equipment would ensure a 98 per cent chance of correcting the problem within six months, she claims Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust will not fund it.

However, a PCT spokesman said that "to the best of their knowledge", no request for funding had been received from the Dawsons.

The family, of King Walk, Didcot, and their friends are holding a series of fundraising events to collect money to pay for the helmet.

Mrs Dawson said: "Thomas was a month premature and in the special care baby unit they have to lie them in a certain way, which may have been the cause of the problem.

"His head is growing in the wrong shape which could cause deformities to his face. His jaw is out of line, he has a bulging forehead, a bulging cheek, and his eyes and ears are unlevel.

"I'm quite upset the NHS won't pay. People can have their ears pinned or a birthmark removed, but they say the helmet is cosmetic treatment."

Thomas has been undergoing a treatment called repositioning since he was 12 weeks old, where his parents move him while he sleeps to ensure he does not lie on the flat part of his head. A tailor-made helmet, worn all the time, would gently hold the areas of the skull that have already grown while allowing the flatter areas to develop.

The family cannot afford to buy it because former gardener Mr Dawson, 32, gave up his job to be a full-time carer for his wife, who suffers from Miniere's disease - which affects the inner ear, leading to imbalance and hearing loss.

Instead, friend Paul Goodall is doing a parachute jump on Saturday, July 28, while two weeks later, the Thong Rangers will be pulling a two-tonne van on a 4.5-mile journey through Didcot.

A PCT spokesman said: "We don't have a policy on funding these items, and would need to have a request through the Healthcare Priorities Unit.

"We look at each individual case and we would need to receive a request for that."