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Doctors halve tot’s brain to stop him suffering up to 120 seizures a day
A poor little tot that was suffering 120 seizures a day has had his brain halved by surgeons after he was born with a one-in-a-million problem.
Ruaridh McCallum was only ten days only when he went under the knife for life-saving surgery having been born with a rare condition.
Little Ru put his parents through hell with Mum Rosalyn saying her family — teacher husband Michael, 34, and Ru’s siblings Isla, six, and Angus, four – were "set free" by the operation.
The youngster was born with a rare hemimegalencephaly, which led to half of his brain not growing as well as the other, The Daily Record reported.
Only one in a million babies are born with the condition, and it meant that Ru’s left side did not get the same messages that the right side of his brain did.
Rosalyn, a 34-year-old speech therapist from Stirling, said the only option was radical surgery to halve the brain and cut the connections between the two sides.
Before the operation at The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, Ru, who was just three months old, had up to 120 epileptic seizures a day.
He was fed through a tube and was floppy and couldn’t focus. Now, Rosalyn says the family’s life has been transformed.
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She said: "When we were told about the extent of the surgery it was quite overwhelming but the team were fantastic and did an amazing job.
"It immediately stopped Ru’s fits and meant we could start thinking about his future and maximising his potential."
Rosalyn was backed by the Cerebral Palsy Scotland and the privately-run Napa Centre – although it is a service her family has to fund.
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She explained: "This has been a huge success for Ru and has changed his life.
"Over the course of the three weeks, we watched in total awe as he made new connections and became a small person who understands they can move.
"We saw him grow in strength and flexibility and were blown away when he not only developed in the specific things that he was working on but also in his ability to understand language, interact and communicate.
"It is hard to describe the level of transformation and how much it has meant to us all."
The family are now raising cash for therapy and equipment for Ru following his life-saving surgery.
Well-wishers have clubbed together and raised £6,980 so far, smashing the family’s target.
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