Born with a strange eczema covering half of her head, the 9-year-old underwent a complex surgery to reconstruct her scalp.

This is the first surgery performed in the UK. The huge eczema that covers the left half of Jessica Brett’s head if not removed early will develop into cancer. This condition is only seen in about 1% of the population, and 15% of it occurs in the head or neck.

Jessica’s head will be bald if the skin patches are carried out in the usual ways. The doctors decided to use the method of using air balloons to grow more scalp after removing the skin with eczema.

When enough excess skin had been created, the balloons were removed and the mole cut out. The new skin was then stretched over the gap, creating a normal scalp.

Plucky Jessica coped with her unusual “hairstyle” by drawing inspiration from her short-haired hero Jessie J and didn’t complain once throughout the tough ordeal.

Proud mum Becky, 34, said: “She was really so brave – it just didn’t bother her.

“She looked like she had buns on her head, and people used to comment on how they liked her ‘hairstyle’.

“It was a long process but Jessica showed us the strength with how brave she has been and her courage.

“She wore a hat but then sometimes she would go out without it.

“Everyone is so proud of her. She just embraced what she has been through. She’s ever so brave.

“It’s nice now to think that it’s all over for her. She looks as perfect as she did before and it’s as if it never happened.”

essica, from Lincoln, was born with the birthmark – a pigmented melanocytic nevus – which was partially visible under her hair on the left hand side.

The condition affects just one per cent of the population and appears on the head or neck in just 15 per cent of cases.

The bubbly youngster wasn’t phased by the mark, but doctors said it should be removed as soon as she was old enough to avoid it becoming cancerous.

“If it turned cancerous they wouldn’t be able to remove it quickly enough because it’s such a large area and it takes such a long process,” explained Becky, who runs a data cabling company with husband James, 37.

She faced shaving all her hair off thanks to her idol Jessie J, and had the first three silicone balloons inserted in a line down the centre of her scalp in June 2013.

Plastic surgery specialist Khawaja Gulraiz Rauf at Leicester Royal Infirmary filled them with saline every two weeks using a syringe.

Three months later – when the ‘lumps’ contained 1.4 pints – surgeons removed the skin with a mole on, and the balloons, and used her newly stretched scalp to cover it up.

But the skin wasn’t quite big enough, and she had to have her head shaved again and a final balloon inserted in October last year, with her parents inflating it at home.

The final ten per cent of the mole – along with the balloon on the side of her head – was removed in January, and now Jessica has a perfect head of growing hair.

“Although Jessica has scars, they are quickly fading and she is looking forward to growing her hair out again,” said Becky.

“She’s been amazing throughout this whole journey, taking it all in her stride with a huge smile on her face.”

It is believed the procedure has never been done on the scalp in the UK before, and only once before, in America.

Brave Jessica held a coffee morning to raise money for an iPad for Mr Gulraiz Rauf filled with photos of her experience, so he can better explain the procedure to future patients.