A mother who previously faced fierce criticism after using laser treatment on a large birthmark on her baby face has defended her controversial choice – and revealed her son has gone a landmark six weeks without a seizure.
Brooke Atkins, 34, from the Gold Coast, Queensland, noticed that her second child, a boy called Kingsley, now 22-months-old, was born with a large Port Wine Stain (PWS) birthmark covering half of his face.
When stay-at-home mother Brooke and her partner Kewene Wallace, 28, decided to laser the mark when Kingsley was around six-months-old, she was branded a ‘monster’ by cruel online trolls.
While the marks are usually harmless, if covering the eye, they can lead to both glaucoma and Sturge Weber Syndrome – which causes seizures.
Kingsley was diagnosed with both, but the laser treatment to lighten and improve the overall skin of the birthmark has helped greatly, lowering the toddler’s risk of further complications.
In a new milestone, his mother has revealed he recently went six weeks seizure-free – the longest period since his seizures started in October 2022.
With her son thriving, the mum has no regrets about going ahead with the treatment.
‘Kinglsey is doing great,’ said Brooke.
‘He had another laser treatment two months ago – his first treatment that was under general anaesthetic, as he’s too big and aware to have treatments awake now.
‘His face has responded greatly to the laser and we are five weeks seizure-free.
‘He’s also just had his third eye surgery for his glaucoma, which so far seems to have been a success.’
Despite the negative reaction she got online after sharing Kingsley’s story, Brooke has defended the decision.
She said: ‘I think having anything out there online will attract criticism, unfortunately.
‘[Recently] we once again received all these negative judgmental comments from people who did no understand why we did the laser.
‘[They said] things like ‘that’s horrible, that’s abuse’, ‘wow some people don’t deserve kids and it’s so sad they don’t love them the way they are’, and ‘vanity is evil’.
‘It no longer upsets me how it used to.
‘It does however get me angry that they don’t bother to educate themselves on Port Wine Stain birthmarks and jump to these conclusions.
‘I try my best to educate them on why we are doing laser treatment at such a young age.
‘I tell them that this will give him the best chance at not adding to his long list of medical issues he already has.
‘And if they respond rudely to that, I try my best not to tell them what I really think but sometimes it’s hard.
‘If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.’
Brooke and partner, Kewene Wallace, 28 – whom she shares three-year-old daughter Amarni with – made the difficult decision to try laser treatment in May 2022.
Last year, she said: ‘The only way to treat a Port Wine Stain is through laser treatments and the most effective laser for it is called a Pulsed Dye Laser.
‘When he was first born, we were referred to the Queensland Children’s Hospital dermatology and vascular department, where they organised the first treatment and explained in further detail why laser would be important.
‘The purpose of the laser treatments is not to ‘remove’ the birthmark but instead keep the skin healthy, to prevent any further damage to the area.’
The treatment will continue to be required one to two times a year for maintenance.
Brooke will continue to update her 46,000 followers and share Kingsley’s progress as he continues to thrive.
She added: ‘He is the happiest, most loving and sweetest boy you will ever meet!’
