SURGEONS created an ear out of a rib for a nine-year-old girl who has a rare syndrome.

Chloe Duffin was born with Goldenhar Syndrome, which left her with one fully formed ear, half a jaw and four of the usual seven neck vertebrae.

The operation, which lasted seven hours, has helped the Cambuslang youngster take steps toward achieving her life-long ambition – of wearing earrings like her friends.

The Evening Times first told of Chloe in 2007. At that stage she had already undergone more than 40 operations and had been told she would have to wait for life-changing facial surgery.

Now she has had the first of two operations to replace her ear and give her a new jawbone.

And doctors have promised they will pierce her ears after the second operation as a reward for her bravery.

Mum Lynne, 35, said: "The best day of our life was after the operation when the doctors showed us her two ears at the same level on her face.

"Dealing with Chloe's illness can be very trying, but we are so lucky to have a lot of support from our brilliant families – we could not do it without them.

"But the results of this operation are better than we were expecting and it is going to be fantastic to see Chloe at the end of her treatment."

Chloe was born 12 weeks premature in the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital and weighed just 3lbs.

She was transferred to Yorkhill Hospital For Sick Children and kept in intensive care for four weeks, while Lynne, dad Brian, and sister Carly, now 15, kept vigil.

Chloe was diagnosed as having sleep apnoea, which caused her to stop breathing during the night.

Although she has since had her tonsils and adenoids removed to relieve the problem, for years Chloe was afraid of going to sleep.

Her left ear and jaw were only partially formed and her airway was blocked. She was also deaf in her left ear and compensating with her right side gave her glue ear.

Finally, Chloe was given the diagnosis of Goldenhar Syndrome, which is believed to affect just 200 people in the UK.

Doctors promised when Chloe was four to try to rebuild her face using tissue from her ribs.

But she was too small for the operation and had to wait until her ribcage was at least 2ft (60cm).

Two weeks ago Chloe, who is a pupil at St Charles Primary, was taken into the Royal Hospital For Sick Children, Edinburgh, where surgeons took cartilage from her rib and carved it into the shape of an ear.

During the operation they took skin from her left ear lobe and used it to cover the new ear before painstakingly grafting it flat to Chloe's head.

Because the two sides of her face are unaligned, they also had to create a new ear canal up to the new position of the left ear.

Her old ear was then planted in her abdomen to be saved for any future operations.

In six months she will return for a second operation to separate the back of the ear from her head so it is the same as a normal ear.

One of her ribs will be removed and used to make a new jaw bone to even out the left side of her face.

Doctors will also take the scar from her rib operation and place it behind her ear so she will have no visible scarring on her abdomen.

If the operation goes to plan Chloe will also get her ears pierced – and finally be able to wear the two pairs of earrings she has been saving for the special occasion.

Lynne added: "It's amazing what they can do for Chloe. It is going to be wonderful to see her when all the operations are completed.

"We travel between Yorkhill, the Southern General, Glasgow Dental Hospital and Edinburgh Sick Children's Hospital for all Chloe's treatments, but it will be worth it."

Lynne and taxi driver Brian, 50, have also joined a support group for families of people with Goldenhar Syndrome.

When the pair joined the charity four years ago it had just £850 in funds – but they have since raised £30,000.

Lynne said: "Without this support group we would never have seen anybody else with this syndrome.

"For new people it can be great to meet up and see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. That is just how we feel with Chloe."

l For more information call 07725 913621 or see the Goldenhar Support Group's website at: www.goldenhar.org/uk

catriona.stewart@ eveningtimes.co.uk