Woman born with severe facial deformity weds after 14 years of reconstructive surgery

A woman who was born with a severe facial deformity told her guests there was "a happy ending” after she got married.

Cody Hall’s birthmark was so large it distorted the left side of her face. But doctors told her distraught family there was nothing they could do until she was six.

Her parents refused to be defeated and researched their daughter’s condition before finding out about a surgeon in America who operated on children with severe facial deformities.

They launched an appeal which raised £230,000, and Ms Hall was sent to Roosevelt Hospital in New York for her first treatment in 1993, when she was one.

Ms Hall had a further 18 operations over the next 14 years, including facelifts, rhinoplasty, skin grafts, liposuction, dermabrasion, eye surgery and laser surgery.

Last week Ms Hall, now 25, tied the knot with Lewis Holt, 27, at St Michael’s Church in Great Oakley, Northamptonshire.

Ms Hall, from Corby, said: “It was an emotional day and there were some tears, especially when I saw Lewis at the altar, but only tears of joy.

“I just want to show people that there is a happy ending.”

The couple met eight years ago and got engaged in June this year.

Ms Hall, who now works on a surgical ward at Kettering General Hospital, suffered years of painful procedures as surgeons reconstructed her face.

Speaking about her experiences growing up, she said: “When I started at secondary school I did get a lot of people asking questions and in the street there would be people staring.

“All the attention would sometimes get me upset and I would come home and say I didn’t like it.”

She added: “But over the years people have realised I am who I am. I get people coming up to me in the street and saying ‘Well done’ and that they are pleased for me.”

Ms Hall now hopes she will not need any more operations on her face.