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Soldier buys Bosnian boy new £100,000 FACE after being moved by his terrible injury

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2623229/Soldier-buys-Bosnian-boy-new-100-000-FACE-moved-terrible-facial-deformities.html

Former Staff Sergeant Wayne Ingram met Stefan Slavic ten years ago
Stefan, now 14, was born with a facial deformity and needed surgery
His eyes were 4.5cm further apart, had no nose and skull was crushed

Mr Ingram promised to raise enough money for him to have treatment
Thanks to his efforts, the first operation was carried out in 2003
He has now just had another follow-up procedure at Great Ormond Street

A soldier who spotted a boy with a terrible deformity while on patrol in Bosnia has spent ten years fundraising to finally deliver his promise of giving him a new face.

Former Staff Sergeant Wayne Ingram, 44, met four-year-old Stefan Savic a decade ago while on peacekeeping duties in Eastern Europe.

Stefan was born with a debilitating condition called Tessier facial cleft, which meant his eyes were 4.5cm further apart than normal and he had no proper nose.

But father-of-two Mr Ingram, formerly of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers, was so moved by Stefan's plight he vowed to get him state-of-the-art medical help.He collected an amazing £85,000 with a fundraising drive across Bosnia and the UK before bringing Stefan to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2003.

The youngster underwent 12 hours of surgery with plastic surgeon David Dunaway, who cut his face in half before moving his eyes closer together and building him a nose.

[h="4"]

The operation was a success but Mr Dunaway warned that a second operation would be needed a decade later.

Mr Ingram kept in touch with Stefan and his parents Slavenka, 36, and Milos, 44, raising a further £20,000 to bring him back to the UK to finish his treatment.

Stefan, now 14, returned to Great Ormond Street this week for his second operation with Mr Dunaway to improve his face and help his breathing.

Mr Ingram, from Weymouth, Dorset, said he was just happy to complete the remarkable job of helping Stefan lead the life of a normal little boy.He said: ‘I was on a routine patrol in Bosnia when I was introduced to his father and went to meet Stefan.

‘The condition had been left untreated and had grown between Stefan's eyes, crushing his skull, forcing his eyes apart to the point he couldn't see what was ahead of him.

[h="3"]WHAT IS TESSIER FACIAL CLEFT?[/h]A facial cleft is an opening or gap in the face, or a malformation of part of the face.

It occurs when separate areas of the face do not join together properly when a baby is developing in the womb.

There are many different types of clefts, one group of which are called Tessier clefts.

These are clefts affecting the centre of the face.

The clefts are very rare and most children with them need multiple operations to help them breathe and eat.

‘But aside from the facial deformities he was just a normal, playful little boy. He was confident and cheeky, climbing all over me as we played football in the yard.
‘He was too young then to be self-aware. But his facial cleft was blocking his airways and without medical attention, could kill him.

‘I had two young sons myself at the time and there was no way I could stand back and do nothing. I knew in an instant I had to do everything I could to help.’

As Mr Ingram set about raising funds, he wrote to a long list of celebrities.
Only David Beckham replied, politely explaining he had already chosen his charities for that year.

Mr Dunaway, the surgeon, was offering his services for free but Mr Ingram still needed to pay for flights, accommodation for the family, as well as essential hospital costs.

He raised 6,000 Euros by staging a charity football match in Banja Luka, with Muslim, Serb and Croat players setting aside their conflicts to help Stefan.

And back in the UK, Mr Ingram launched a massive fundraising drive, persuading his local Asda to put collection boxes beside their tills.

He said: ‘Donations poured in and I was bowled over by the generosity.

‘Stefan needed three operations back then - one to remove his teeth, another to reconstruct his nose and another to reconstruct his skull.

‘He was back and forth to the UK many times, staying for as long as a month at a time.‘The doctors warned us it wasn't over, however, and that ten years later Stefan would need follow up surgery.

‘But we have kept in touch ever since and as ten years neared I let Stefan's family know I would raise the necessary funds - over £20,000.’

As Mr Ingram set about raising a second lot of cash to pay for visas, hospital costs and flights, he was once more amazed by people's generosity.

In his native Dorset, one anonymous donor, calling herself simply 'the kind granny' contributed a ‘large, undisclosed’ amount.

And this time celebrities including comic Jim Davidson and musician Billy Bragg also answered his letters.

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Incredible work by the soldier, his efforts should be praised.

Reply 1

username945663

That was nice of him. Good man.

Reply 2

caravaggio2

Nice to see, instead of the usual soldier hating posts.
Soldiers see some awful stuff in their time abroad. It must be easy to allow yourself to become hardened to it as a coping mechanism.
Good on him.

Reply 3

Rant

Probably felt guilty about mutilating other children.