BY AMY ROSE HARTE
FRIENDS and family of Alan Doherty are said to be pleased with his progress since he underwent life-changing surgery at a US clinic on Monday.
They say that no complications arose during his fourteen-hour operation and are hopeful that Alan is on target to return home on July 4. Alan (17) was born with a rare hereditary chin disorder called Maxillofacial.
He has no lower chin and has to breathe through a tube in his throat.
The surgery which took place at Mount Sinai Clinic in New York is believed to be the first of it's kind in the world.
It involved removing bone from Alan's hip which was then attached to his back so that it could become accostomed to the appropriate conditions.
This will then be used for Alan's chin in a further operation later this year.
HAPPY
Paul McBride of the Friends of Alan Doherty committee said the family are very happy with Alan's progress.
"He's getting on good. I was talking to few people last night, including Alan's father Danny and Alan's in good form, they're hoping today to take him out of bed. But everything's good and they're very pleased with everything that's happened," he said.
"They achieved everything they hoped to on Monday, there were no complications and they're very happy."
Alan hopes return to the US later in the year for the second stage of his surgery.
Meanwhile, all the money raised by the committee has been spent on the first stage of surgery and Paul re-appealed to the public for more donations.
"What we've raised is gone, so we're starting afresh again. While we've had a marvellous response so far but the pot is empty again because we had to pay for the surgery that took place on Monday," he said.
He also acknowledged the efforts of Jason Black and his team at Voodoo who are organising a teen disco this week. All takings of the night will go towards the fund.
If you would like to help, please contribute to the Alan Doherty Fundraising Account in AIB Letterkenny: Account number is 15038040; Sort code 937347.
The Friends of Alan Doherty can be contacted on 086 8251 869 or a message can be passed to them by contacting the Donegal News on 074 9121014.
