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BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)<br />
Pic: PhilYeomans/BNPS<br />
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If you think the NHS has a long waiting list, spare a thought for Frances May's patients who can wait up to 18 months to be treated.<br />
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That is because Mrs May is one of only a handful of expert doll restorers left in Britain and people travel from all over the country for her services.<br />
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Mrs May, 59, is so in demand she has now stopped taking new enquiries until she can clear the backlog of broken baby dolls.<br />
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She runs Dartington Dolls Hospital from a room at her home in the village near Totnes, Devon, and faces challenges daily that would make experienced surgeons balk - from cracked skulls to missing eyes and amputations.<br />
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The macabre shelves of her workshop look like something from the Hammer House of Horrors - with boxes of limbs, spare heads and extra eyeballs peering out from every corner.<br />
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A simple restringing would cost about £40 but a doll that needs lots fixed can cost as much as £700.