Most seven-year-olds would rather stay at home and play then go to school, but Alesha Wilcock is no ordinary little girl.

She was diagnosed with Parry-Romberg syndrome when she was four. The rare disorder causes half of the skin and soft tissue on one side of her face to deteriorate and shrink.

Her mum, Lisa Wilcock, 27, said the condition makes Alesha’s face look like its eating itself.

The pregnant mum-of-three said: “Parry-Romberg syndrome is her body attacking itself. When she was younger I noticed her face looked different.

“If you look at her face it looks twisted. You can see her cheekbones and skull. But she just gets on with it, she takes her medication twice a day and never complains.”

Dad Darren Wilcock, 36, said: “It took quite a long time for her to get diagnosed as the syndrome is so rare. We didn’t know what it was.”

Alesha, who has an older brother, Kieron, 10, and a younger sister, Maddison, four, has to have blood tests every four weeks to make sure her liver and kidneys are working properly as the medication she is taking is so strong.

She had an operation in November which replaced some of the fat in her face, with some taken from her thigh. Alesha will have to have the same operation again in March.

Her parents said it was heartbreaking to see her afterwards, as she was covered in bruises, but that she did not let the operation get her down.

Alesha, a Saxon Way Primary School pupil, has had to miss a lot of school, but is still top of her classes. She said her favourite subject is maths.

Mrs Wilcock said: “Alesha loves reading and writing, anything educational. She’s into horses at the moment, and keeps asking her dad to buy her one.

“Our dogs, Eva, a German shepherd, and Elsa, a Siberian husky, absolutely adore her.

"You can see her cheekbones and skull. But she just gets on with it, she takes her medication twice a day and never complains" - Lisa Wilcock

“She absolutely loves school. Her work is fantastic and her teachers tell us that she’s doing well.”

Mr Wilcock said: “She’s really clever, I don’t know where she gets it from.”

For Christmas, her parents bought her a pink guitar and a giant cuddly caterpillar, which she named Colourful.

Tracey Sears, from Saxon Way School, has nominated Alesha for a Pride in Medway award.

She said: “She has facial disfigurement and never complains. She is a role model to others.”

Alesha said she was happy to be nominated for the award.