NINE-year-old Alfie Phillips is the first child in the UK to have his leg made longer using pioneering surgery.
The lad was born with fibular hemimelia, leaving his right limb shorter — up to 6cm by adulthood.
Surgeons at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, cut his thigh bone and implanted a rod which forces the break apart by 1mm a day.
The op last March has added 3cm.
Mum Laura Ducker, 34, of Northampton, said: “He coped magnificently.
“He was keen to go back to school quickly.”
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“By the next morning, he was up walking around with his zimmer frame to the toilet.
“We were told that with the external fixator, he would never have been comfortable enough to do.
“From day seven, he didn’t need any pain relief, he just managed.”
“He’s running around as normal.
“If you were to look him you would never know that there had ever been anything happen.
“He is just incredible.”