Ethan was born on 21st May 2004 in Warrington General Hospital. Immediately after his birth he was taken to the neo-natal intensive care unit where he was diagnosed with a Lymphatic Malformation.

Ethan’s LM consisted of a number of very large cysts along his jaw line that were so large they restricted his airway resulting in him having a tracheostomy when he was 4 days old at Alder Hay Children Hospital. At 3 months Ethan was flown to Great Ormond Street hospital for an operation to remove a number of these large cysts and although relatively successful has not meant that the tracheostomy can be removed.

Since his operation it has been discovered that as well as the large cysts that were removed he also has hundreds of small cysts all round his neck , face, tongue and right eye. Such is the nature of these cysts that they are causing further disfigurement to his face. If left these cysts will cause further skeletal disfigurement that will be irreversible.

Ethan has been through a lot over the last 3 years including a full cardiac and respiratory arrest, a punctured lung and numerous infections as well as two hospital super bugs. He went through a major 7 hour operation to remove some of the larger cysts and had a very painful recovery but despite all this he is a very happy, sociable little boy and always has a smile on his face

Ethan is still too young to realise that he is different from other kids. He knows that when he goes out people stare at him but doesn’t know why, he usually waves or smiles at them. On one occasion Ethan walked up to a group of children and said “Hello”, one of them said “look at his face” and they all started to laugh at him, but Ethan still sat down to play with them because he didn’t realise they were being mean.

Due to the rarity and complexity of Ethan’s condition his Doctor's do not have the necessary experience to operate on him There is, however, a doctor in New York who specializes in Ethan’s condition and twice a year he flies to Berlin to see children in Europe. His name is Dr. Milton Waner and some of the results he has achieved with other children like Ethan are amazing. Dr Waner has met Ethan at Alder Hay hospital and is willing to operate on him but the cost of the operation will not be covered by the NHS.