Little girl has 'clown nose' fixed

A three-year-old girl born with a bright red ''clown'' birthmark on her nose can finally hold her head up high after undergoing a life changing operation to remove it. Connie Lloyd was just one day old when her proud parents Zara and Tom, both 24, spotted a tiny red dot on her nose. Over the next month the raised red circle grew to a diameter of 4cm and completely covered her tiny button nose. Connie's worried parents took her to their GP and were referred to a skin specialist who diagnosed the youngster with haemangioma - a benign tumour.

After years of name calling Zara and Tom found a surgeon who could remove Connie's growth and she is now looking forward to starting pre-school in two weeks time. Proud mother Zara admitted she often hid Connie to avoid ''horrible'' remarks and revealed she has been ''amazed'' by the results of the operation. She said: ''Before the operation Connie was quite shy and when people made comments and pointed she would turn her head. Even just going to the doctors' surgery was awful for both of us. I would hide Connie in the car to avoid people making horrible comments.


Photos from SWNS.

''By the time Connie was four weeks old her nose was a perfect clown's nose and not only was the birthmark growing externally, but internally too. We were constantly worried. The doctors said if she cut or grazed it she could bleed to death. There were treatments to stop it getting bigger but nothing to get rid of it. It was the longest two hours of my life when Connie was in the theatre. When she came out of the operation she said her nose was like her mum's.

''Now she is doing really well, she has a big group of friends and we are so proud of her. She is very intelligent. It's nice not to have to deal with the cruel comments any more but red nose or not Connie has always been our perfect little girl.'' On March 11 this year Connie underwent a successful three and a half hour operation at the Royal London Hospital. Now she has been left with just a small scar on her nose and is looking forward to making friends when she starts pre-school on September 5.