Pretty in pink: Katie Meehan, 16, has enjoyed her first school prom after a lifetime of operations to give her a smile
Gown: Katie wore a stunning pink dress to celebrate the end of school with her friends from St Joseph’s RC Comprehensive School’s at a prom at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead
Brave: Katie was born with cystic hygroma, where fluid forms a mass on the head and neck. The condition left her with a mis-shapen face and an enlarged tongue
Surgery: In 2000 Katie's left cheek and tongue were cut open during the five-hour surgery, and cysts were removed. In spring 2001 she had her second at the Portland Hospital in London, and two years later, she had a third operation
Although her surgeon has now retired, Katie still needs one more operation to her tongue and the lower inside of her mouth.
