'She is unstoppable':

Two-year-old 'Robotot' fitted with titanium ribs to stop her own body from crushing her to death

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A toddler born with a rare form of dwarfism has been fitted with titanium ribs to stop her body from suffocating her.

Jessie Plumpton, two, has Jeunes Thoracic Dystrophy, which has stopped her rib cage from developing properly and puts pressure on her lungs.

The youngster underwent two gruelling seven-hour operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to increase the size of her chest. She was then transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

During the operation a titanium bar was fitted vertically down the middle of both halves of Jessie's rib cage to pry the ribs apart in both directions. Surgeons have performed the pioneering surgery on around 200 children in the U.S.

Her mother Jane, 27, said: 'The chest expansion was very traumatic because it was a life or death operation. 

'She could have died in surgery. As she gets older, she faces further surgery. Her life expectancy is unpredictable. 

'We live every day like it could be our last. She is brilliant. She’s just plodded on and fought.

'Jessie has astonished doctors with her strength and resilience.'

Ms Plumpton, from Runcorn in Cheshire, said her daughter was diagnosed with Jeunes in January 2010, when she was two months old. Her older half-sister Jennie Leigh, 9, is not affected.

The genetic condition, which affects around one in 130,000 children, puts Jessie at risk from developing life-threatening respiratory infections and possible kidney failure.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2108079/Two-year-old-Robotot-fitted-titanium-ribs-stop-body-crushing-death.html#ixzz1nmyAqAR5