Saturday, February 16, 2013

'He's my brother. It doesn't matter what he looks like'(PHOTOS)

For most mothers, the moment when they first see their child after giving birth is filled with love and affection.

But for Charlene Machin, it was a moment of terror - for her son had been born with half of his face missing.

The 33-year-old had given birth to twin boys Oliver and Harry - but doctors discovered baby Harry had been born with a severe facial deformity.

Mrs Machin, from Stoke-on-Trent, recalled how, when her sons were born seven years ago, she kept apologising to husband Mark after hearing the news.

She said: 'I'd only just recovered from giving birth by caesarian to the twins.

'Doctors had whisked Harry straight off after his birth and I hadn't been able to see him.

'The doctor lifted his hand to his own face, and made a sweeping gesture across the left side.

"'It's as though his face has been erased completely," he told me. He has no eye on that side, no ear or nostril.'

'I started crying and kept saying I was sorry to Mark. I felt like it was my fault.