Oz Boy With Goldenhar Syndrome Cannot Learn to Eat

In a rare case of birth defect, a one-year old Australian boy is unlikely to learn how to eat and drink in the normal way after suffering from Goldenhar syndrome.

Goldenhar syndrome is one of the rarest birth defects where in the baby's ear, nose, soft palate, lip, and mandible has not been developed fully which means that it cannot eat in the normal way and has to be fed with a tube.

The parents, Joanne and Shannon White who are the residents of Encounter Bay, Adelaide, will be travelling Graz in Austria to take part in a three week course which attempts to teach children how to eat on their own.

"He has never learnt how to eat and we've done everything, from simple things like rubbing his gums to more complex things and doctors are at their wits. People say 'why don't you offer him something sweet, that will work', but it's just not that simple. His tongue doesn't work, there's a lot of problems", Joanne White said.

Source: Medindia