Conwy teen bullied for Pfeiffer skull condition training as doctor

A teenager who underwent 44 surgeries for a rare skull condition has said it was the inspiration of the surgeons who treated him that made him want to become a doctor.

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

He was bullied for his condition when he was younger, and spent significant time in hospital, but is now studying to become a doctor at Cardiff University.

“I always looked up to the surgeons for what they did for me, and I wanted to be like them from an early age,” he said.

Pearce has Pfeiffer Syndrome Type 2, external, one of the most serious forms of the illness, which he described as when “my skull doesn’t grow as normally as it would from birth”.

“It means I have had to have a lot of surgeries to make space for my brain to grow into, since the skull wouldn’t grow on its own,” he said, adding that he underwent 44 “very specialist” surgeries at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.

Pearce said he also has hydrocephalus, external, a build-up of fluid in the brain, and needs a shunt “which drains fluid away”.

He said that when he was in primary school he was subjected to bullying for his condition and the time he spent in hospital.

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

“I had a big problem with eye contact – I just wouldn’t look anybody in the eye.”

However, he said his confidence started to improve when he attended secondary school, thanking teachers at St David’s College, Llandudno.

Pearce said in the months leading up to him taking his GCSEs he had more than three months off school for numerous surgeries.

“But the teachers always caught me up with my studies, they would spend time after class helping me,” he said, adding that he underwent similar difficulties at the start of Year 13.

“In the summer I had a very big surgery to correct my massive underbite and help me eat properly. The operation lasted 14 hours,” he said.

“I was not allowed to chew for two months after the surgery because they had done so much, so I lost 9kg (1.4 stone) in weight.”

Pearce, who just completed the first year of his medical studies, recently returned to the school to thank teachers.

Head teacher Andrew Russell described Pearce as an “inspirational young man” who was “refused to be defined by his health or his surgeries”.

“He has never used any of his worries or issues as an excuse,” he said.