Special helmet helps Crawley boy beat defect

9:59am Saturday 10th May 2008

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Callum Meenaghan has been given a head start in life thanks to the help of a special cranial helmet.

The 14-month-old youngster was born with a condition called plagiocephaly, also known as flat head syndrome, which affects the shape of the head and the way it grows.

Callum's parents Gemma and John, from Crawley, learned about a treatment which would help realign the misshapen bones and allow the head to develop normally.

Since October, the youngster has been wearing the helmet almost every day and the results have been so impressive Callum has recently finished his final treatment.

Now Gemma, 30, and John, 40, who work as BA cabin crew, are hoping their story will help other families like theirs.

The couple from Pound Hill were overjoyed when Callum was born in February 2007.

There had been no complications during the pregnancy or birth and they had a beautiful healthy son.

At the age of three months, Gemma noticed Callum was developing an unusually shaped head, which appeared to be flat on the right-hand side and was bulging on the left.

Various health experts told the couple the condition was common in newborn babies, Callum had no underlying medical problems and that it should correct itself.

However, after three months of numerous visits to physiotherapists and various repositioning exercises, the Meenaghans saw no improvement in the shape of Callum's head.

Gemma said: "We knew there was a helmet treatment available that assists in correcting the condition but at this stage we knew little else about it.

"We had already been informed by the physio that the NHS would not help with the cost treatment of plagiocephaly but we felt that Callum's condition was becoming worse and we needed to do something."

It was at this stage the Meenaghans began to research plagiocephaly on the internet and came across the Technology In Motion website.

They made an appointment at the company's centre in Wimbledon and after going through the necessary checks and tests, Callum started wearing the helmet at eight months old.

Gemma said: "Providing Callum with the helmet is the best thing we could have done."