Panto boost for Ingham girl who suffers from rare skull condition

An 11-year-old girl who suffers from a rare skull condition has been given a festive boost after a community rallied round to pay for a theatre trip.

Hannah Webster, of Ingham, was born with craniosynostosis in which one of the growth points in her skull fused so her head could not grow on one side and caused pressure on the brain.

At the age of three, she endured major surgery to rebuild her skull and had a procedure in October this year as she was suffering from lots of headaches.

To bring her some festive cheer, family friend Yvonne Scase organised a collection to pay for Hannah and her mum Liz to see panto Cinderella at the Theatre Royal today.

The tickets were presented by Santa during a Christmas lunch at St Bartholomew Church, in Ingham.

Mrs Webster, 47, said: “It’s amazing – it’s given Hannah a boost and shows that people care because we’ve had a tough time.

“It’s given us all a lift. Hannah’s really looking forward to it because she’s not been that well.

“Thank you to everyone who donated.”

She said Hannah, who is a pupil at St Louis Middle School, in Bury, is ‘on the mend’ following her recent surgery.

Mrs Webster added: “Hopefully it will now have righted it. She may need more as she grows older. She’s been very poorly but now she’s doing quite well.”

Mrs Scase said the collection included donations from a coffee morning and church service. She said: “I started it off by suggesting that they had a collection for her because she has been very poorly and it seemed a good idea near Christmas to do something special.

“She’s a very brave little girl.”