5yr old boy endures horn implants so surgeons can remove birthmark
Doctors have treated a young boy with a large birthmark on his face,  by implanting horns in his forehead.

George Ashman, 5, was born with a bright red blemish on his forehead and his mother Karen, 33, feared he would endure a lifetime of bullying. So when he was four he underwent a surgical procedure to stretch the 'normal' skin on his forehead so the birthmark could be removed and covered with the new unblemished tissue.

Doctors inserted two tissue expanders under the skin, which gradually inflated so they looked like two perfect devil's horns. After four months the implants were removed and the blemish was cut out, allowing the new skin to be stitched together - leaving just a small Harry Potter-style scar on George's forehead.

George went under the knife in April this year to remove the birthmark and have his 'new' skin stretched across in its place. He has only a small scar where the blemish used to be and has now started school with his friends. Karen said: 'What I'm most proud of is that through all this I've seen strength in George that I never had as a child. He's different, but he's himself - and he has never let it hold him back. 'My little devil's got guts - and with or without his birthmark and his horns I'll always love him to bits for that.'
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