A SCHOOLBOY could be back home with his family less than three days after undergoing major surgery.

Garred Simpson aged 11, of Carr Road, Nelson, underwent the six-hour operation at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, on Wednesday.

Doctors have told his parents, Michael and Julie Simpson, that the first 24 hours after the operation were the most important and the signs so far indicate that it was a success.

Specialists believed a facial nerve had been severed causing the left side of his face to become paralysed, after Garred suffered a fractured skull in a collision with a car in Carr Hall Road, on July 20, .

He became deaf in one ear for a short time after the accident and was transferred to Manchester from Burnley General Hospital.

But the damage to the facial nerve was not as serious as first thought and his relieved parents are hoping to have their son home by the weekend.

Garred's dad, Michael, said: "The operation went all right. It turned out the nerve wasn't severed but the bone was trapping it and crushing it. They had to chip some bone away around it and cut the outer surface of the nerve where it was inflamed.

"The fact it was damaged rather than severed means there is a better chance of getting the feeling back.

"If it had been beyond repair they would have had to cut the nerve out and graft another part in and he would have not got more than 60 per cent of feeling back in his face.

"There's still doubt that he will get 100 per cent feeling back in his face but it's a better chance than before."

Neurosurgeons from Manchester Royal Infirmary carried out the operation at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

A spokeswoman for Manchester Royal said: "This was a very uncommon procedure and there are only two surgeons in Greater Manchester who can deal with it and they are both based at the Manchester Royal.

"They tried to accommodate Garred in one of our theatres here and put it down provisionally for Monday but when they discussed the high dependency post operation care for children it was decided he should be in a children's unit.

"So he was sent to Pendlebury and the surgeons went over there to do the operation. They have said he is doing okay."

Mr Simpson and his wife have been told that if Garred recovers quickly he could be allowed home as early as this evening.

Mr Simpson said: "It does seem quick but it's not like he's got an illness. If the operation has gone well and he is okay in himself he can leave. The worst part is the first 24 hours because there is a risk of an epileptic fit or blood clots.

"He has done well. Only two or three days after the accident we were watching him and his recovery was unbelievable. But children are like that compared to adults. He has a fight to get better because he wants to get out playing and go on his PlayStation.

"He seems all right, just a bit groggy on the anaesthetic."