The Conwy teenager became bullied as a doctor training for Pfeiffer’s skull condition

A teenager who has undergone 44 surgeries for an unusual skull ailment has said that it was the surgeons who inspired him to become a doctor.

Thomas Pearce, 19, from Old Colwyn, Conwy, has Pfeiffer syndrome, which causes the skull to fuse prematurely in utero and distorts the shape of the head and face.

He was bullied for his illness when he was young, and spent a lot of time in hospital, but is now studying to be a doctor at Cardiff University.

“I always looked up to surgeons for what they did for me and wanted to be like them ever since I was a kid,” he said.

Pearce has. Pfeiffer syndrome type 2, ExternalOne of the more severe forms of the disease, he said, “is that my skull doesn’t grow like it used to do since I was born.”

“It meant the skull wouldn’t grow on its own so I had to do a lot of surgery to make room for my brain to grow into,” he said, having undergone 44 “very specialist” surgeries at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.

Pierce said he had too. hydrocephalus, ExternalIt requires fluid to accumulate in the brain and “drain the fluid”.

He said he was bullied when he was ill and spent time in hospital when he was in primary school.

“I think that hurt my confidence … I was very shy and didn’t want to engage with teachers a lot,” he said.

“I had a big problem with eye contact – I didn’t look anyone in the eye.”

However, he said his confidence began to improve when he attended high school, crediting the teachers at St. David’s College Laudno.

Pearce said he had more than three months off school for several surgeries in the months before taking his GCSEs.

But the teachers always followed my lessons, spending time after class to help me.

“I had a big operation during the summer to correct my underbite and help me eat properly. The operation took 14 hours,” he said.

“I wasn’t allowed to chew for two months after the operation because they did so much. I lost 9kg (1.4 stone) in weight.”

Pierce, who just finished his first year of medical school, recently returned to school to thank the teachers.

Headmaster Andrew Russell described Pearce as an “inspiring young man” who was “unable to be defined by his health or surgery”.

“He never used his anxiety or his issues as an excuse,” he said.