Our colleague, Neil Bulstrode (Plastic, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgeon), recently took part in a pioneering operation which has brought new joy to a 9-year-old boy born without ears. Using cartilage taken from the ribcage, the team of surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital were able to construct new ears for him. Boy has ears created from ribs by Fergus Walsh, Medical Correspondent for the BBC A boy who was born without ears has had a pair created from his ribs. Nine-year-old Kieran Sorkin had the surgery at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital. About 100 children a year in the UK are born without one or both ears, a condition known as microtia. Kieran was born deaf with small lobes where his ears should be. He can already hear, thanks to previous surgery to implant a hearing aid. "I want people to stop asking me questions", said Kieran from Hertfordshire. "I'd like just to look like my friends. "I'd also like to be able to wear sunglass...

Please watch this moving documentary; Neil Bulstrode is an amazing plastic surgeon who is both a friend, and a work colleague. He and his fellow professionals are changing peoples lives with their amazing surgical skills.  In a tiny hamlet in Colombia, six-year-old Didier has struggled with a huge burden: a rare condition called a Congenital Melanocytic Nevus: a giant mole that grew so much that it covered 40% of his body. It resembled a shell, and Didier was nicknamed Turtle Boy. There was a chance it could turn malignant. And Didier's mother Luz struggled with an additional burden: guilt. In this superstitious society, there was a belief that Didier's growth was a result of being conceived during an eclipse, which meant Luz and her family had to live apart from the rest of the village. Luz longed to be free to have her son baptised, to take him to school and see him grow up like any other boy. But there was no way she could raise the money for an opera...

I would like to share this with you. Neil Bulstrode , Consultant Plastic Surgeon and the Clinical Lead for Plastic Surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, has participated in the filming of a documentary by Ben Fogle that will be aired on BBC2 on Wednesday 9th June at 9-10pm . If you cannot watch it then, it will be repeated on BBC2 on Monday 14th June at 7-8pm . The documentary, titled Make Me a New Face , is about the charity trip to Ethiopia that Neil was part of; which saw a team of highly-skilled medical and surgical professionals travel to Addis Abeba in order to carry out surgery on children with severe facial disfigurement... A very worthwhile cause, as I am sure you will agree! The charity that organised this trip is called Facing Africa .