Surgeons Rebuild Boy's Jaw Using His Own Rib Bone, Allowing Him To Breathe And Eat On His Own

November 17, 2025

A seven-year-old boy from Bath, England, is enjoying a brand-new chapter of life after surgeons rebuilt his jaw using pieces of his own ribs—an extraordinary operation that now allows him to breathe, eat, and swallow on his own for the first time.

William Tuckwell / Credit: The Associated Press

William Tuckwell was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects how facial bones and tissues develop. In William’s case, his jaw was so underdeveloped that his tongue blocked his airway. At just two weeks old, he required a tracheostomy to survive—something that completely shaped daily life for him and his family.

“That little tube dominated everything,” his mother, Kate, recalled. Everywhere William went, someone trained in tracheostomy care had to be by his side, even at school. “The first few years, we were just focused on keeping William alive.”

But this year, everything changed.

A surgical team at Bristol Children’s Hospital, led by consultant surgeon Mr. Alistair Cobb, proposed a groundbreaking solution: take a small piece of rib from each side of William’s body and use it to build new jaw joints. The process sounded brutal to his mother.

“Giving a bit of your child’s rib to go to the jaw felt so hard,” she said. “I kept thinking, ‘I hope it works.’”

The surgery lasted seven hours, and afterward, William wore a metal frame around his head. For an entire month, his family tightened screws each day, slowly lengthening his jaw one millimeter at a time. Meanwhile, hospital staff checked on him twice a week.

Then, suddenly, one tiny sign gave her hope: a noodle.

“One day a piece of spaghetti came through his nose,” she said. As strange as it seemed, it meant there was finally space in his airway. “I thought, maybe… this might have worked.”

And it did.

William no longer needs his breathing tube. He can sit with friends and eat whenever he’s hungry—including sharing snacks, which he cheerfully demonstrated: “If I’m hungry, I can just get food for my friends. Here you go!”

Treacher Collins syndrome affects about 1 in 50,000 births, and cases as complex as William’s are rare. But thanks to modern surgical techniques—and an incredibly brave little boy—William’s future is wide open. In fact, he already has a plan:

He wants to be an astronaut.