A toddler born with a rare defect has made an incredible recovery after surgeons were forced to break his skull open and piece it back together.

Harry Woods was born with craniosynostosis - a condition where the skull plates fuse together before birth. He underwent a gruelling seven-hour operation at Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital shortly before his first birthday where doctors cut open his skull and reshaped it.

Parents, Louise, 32, and Phil, 40, from County Durham, are now delighted that there little one is on the road to recovery. Mrs Woods said: 'Harry was born at South Tyneside District Hospital a very healthy, normal baby boy. 'Unfortunately, after a few follow-up appointments, we were told that the fontanelles on his skull couldn't be located and more checks would be required. 'In November 2010, we were told our son had saggital craniosynostosis, where the top part of his skull had fused together. 'This was causing both his skull and his brain to grow the wrong way.'

Harry was sent to the specialist craniofacial unit at Alder Hey, one of only four in the country, for assessment in January this year. Mrs Woods, an administrator, added: 'We were told an operation was required to open his head, remove the top of the skull, have it broken up and put back together again in a way that would allow the brain to grow normally without any pressure.'

Harry, now 19-months-old, had the operation in April this year, which his parents describe as the 'longest seven hours of their lives.'