A STOURPORT mother has issued a heartfelt plea to help raise funds to buy a special helmet for her daughter who was born with a rare skull defect.

Emily-Jane Oram-Turner's daughter, nine-month-old Liliarna was born with severe plagiocephaly.

This means that she has a flattened skull, which requires urgent treatment, in the form of a specially-made TiMBand Helmet, in order to help correct it.

Liliarna's head is so severe that she will need two helmets - costing nearly £4,000.

The TiMBand Helmet will be made and shipped over from America, in a hope that Liliarna can be fitted with it at a clinic in Bristol on May 16, and Liliarna's family have set up a JustGiving page to help raise funds.

Her mother, Emily-Jane, said: "My daughter Liliarna has severe plagiocephaly which is flattening of the head. She is only nine-months-old and is a twin, born four weeks prematurely.

"I have spent so much time researching about plagiocephaly as I knew very little about it, but what I have found is lots of information about helmets and how they help reshape the head.

"We need to get our daughter a helmet fitted, but unfortunately the NHS does not fund this as they class it as cosmetic.

"GP's and paediatricians answer is 'the head will improve shape and grow their hair.' Health visitors advised us to keep re-positioning her but this made no difference and her head has got worse.

"To make matters worse, Liliarna's head is so severe that she will need two helmets - the first costing £2,025 and the second helmet costing £1,905.

"She doesn't suffer with any pain, but she can't lie on the side of her head that bulges and it can often cause development delays."

Emily-Jane added: "If we don't get Liliarna a helmet it is likely it will get worse, already her ears are misaligned and in the future, it could cause her jaw to be misaligned causing more problems.

"When Liliarna gets older it means if she needed glasses, they wouldn't fit because of how her ears are positioned - she wouldn't be able to wear a helmet to play on a bicycle like other children or do any other activities that involve wearing head gear.

"Please donate whatever you can and if you can't donate, please share and raise awareness so in future we can help other children."

To donate money for Liliarna's helmet, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/emily-oram-turner.