Surgeons Construct Artificial Ears for Boy Born Without

Thanks to a pair of artificial ears, Joshua Bull fits in with the rest of his peers.

The elementary school student was born with small ill-shaped flaps of skin on the part of his head where his ears should have been. Due to blocked ear canals, he also suffered from severe hearing loss.

But doctors have been able to restore Joshua’s appearance by building latex ears, reports London’s Daily Mail.

“If I shouted really loud next to him, he could pick up a noise, but he couldn’t hear what was being spoken,” said Joshua’s mom, Lesley.

At the age of two, surgeons inserted a bone-anchored hearing aid into Joshua’s skull, which bypassed the blocked ear canal and allowed him to hear.

However, Joshua, who lives in Moorends, South Yorkshire in England, still felt self-conscious about his lack of ears.

“People would stare at him when we went shopping or swimming and they would whisper,” Bull said.

Six operations later, the plastic ears were fitted for Joshua. He will receive a new pair every six months until he is fully grown. They fit onto his head with metal attachments.

Click here to read the full story from the Daily Mail and to see photos of Joshua.