Northamptonshire boy becomes first in UK to have surgery to make him taller
Alfie Phillips had a lengthening nail fitted to his thigh bone, after being born with one leg shorter than the other
Last updated 12 hours ago
A nine-year-old boy has become the first person in the UK to have pioneering surgery to make him taller.
Alfie Phillips has fibular hemimelia, which affects fewer than one in 40,000 births and caused his right leg to not develop properly, leaving it more than an inch shorter than his left.
Experts implanted a lengthening nail on the surface of Alfie's right thigh bone, which was slowly pulled apart over time using magnets to help him gain 3cm.
Prior to seeing specialists at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, his only option for treatment was to have an external frame fixed to his bone with pins or wires, which carries a risk of pain, infection and scarring.
Alfie, from Northampton, told the Press Association that he was "excited" and scared to be the first to have the procedure, but almost a year on he is now "running around as normal" and enjoys playing basketball.
Alder Hey has since performed the technique on three other children with fibular hemimelia.
Lengthening nails have been fitted inside the bone of adults, but the procedure was not an option for younger children because of the risk of damaging the growth plates.
Nick Peterson, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Alder Hey, told PA: "We know that being able to lengthen internally is less painful and a better experience overall.
"But before this technique, it wasn't available for children."
The new method, developed in the US, involved placing a lengthening nail - known as a motorised telescopic nail - on the surface of Alfie's femur, the long bone in the thigh.
The bone is surgically cut, with a rod placed down the middle to keep it straight.
To make the limb longer, a magnetic device was placed on Alfie's leg three times a day for a month.
This process helped the nail slowly pull the two bone ends apart - by around 1mm each day - while the body naturally filled the gap with new bone tissue.
Before being referred to Alder Hey in 2024, Alfie's only option to make his leg longer was to have an external fixator fitted.
Mr Peterson said these can be "difficult to live with", with problems such as infections at the pin sites and pain, and complications like knee stiffness and scarring.
The operation to install the nail was performed on Alfie in March 2025 and he spent less than a week in hospital.
His mother, Laura Ducker, 34, said: "By the next morning, he was up walking around with his zimmer frame to the toilet."
Alfie was given around a week to recover before lengthening began.
He then returned to hospital for weekly physiotherapy sessions and reviews by doctors and specialist nurses until the lengthening process had finished, which took around six weeks.
Alfie continued to have physio until the nail was removed from his leg, which was around three to four months after the operation.
Although Alfie may need further lengthening treatment on his shin bone in the future, Mr Peterson said his experience for his age has been "vastly superior to what it would have been".
He described his patient's recovery as "remarkable".
Alder Hey has since been contacted by specialists from other centres in England who wish to introduce the technique at their hospitals.