SIX-year-old Cian Gardner is just one of many North-East children who have benefited from Prof Avery's talents over the last two decades.

His mother, Naomi Stones, 29, from Darlington, was referred to the Middlesbrough-based professor of maxillofacial surgery because of concerns about her son's right eye. Apart from occasionally pulsating, it was noticeably lower in his face than his other eye.

"Nobody noticed there was a problem at first. It was really because of the pulsating that I took him to see a few specialists," says Naomi, who has three other children.

Following exploratory MRI and CT scans Naomi was given the frightening news that there might be an unidentified 'mass' behind his eye and that Cian would probably need a potentially dangerous operation.

"That is when I met Professor Avery and neurosurgeon Sid Marks. They told me there might be some kind of tumour behind his eye, it was scary," she says.

They also told her that Cian's skull was slightly malformed, which meant there was additional pressure on the eye from his brain.

After a further deterioration of the little boy's eyesight, Prof Avery and Mr Marks decided to operate. "They told me the main reason was to save his eye. When they went into his head they found there was no barrier between his brain and his eye," says Naomi.

The ten-hour operation took places at James Cook University Hospital in April 2004. Naomi went through agonies until it was all over.

"I was warned that Cian might lose his sight or even die on the operating table," says Naomi.

During the long, complicated operation to clear up the problem, a piece of bone cut out of Cian's skull was reshaped to provide support for his eye

"He ended up with a scar from ear to ear and needed 50 staples. He had so much anaesthetic he was hallucinating afterwards," says Naomi.

Cian is now doing well, although he will need annual check-ups.

"We have had brilliant care from Prof Avery and his team," says Naomi.