Little Legs

In October 2016, at our 20 week scan we found out that our little girl had a fetal abnormality - congenital Talipes Equivarous, otherwise known as club foot. Having gone into the scan with no expectation there would be anything wrong the news was shocking and frightening, would she be ok? Was there anything else wrong. We were immediately referred to a specialist fetal medicine unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital and then to the children's orthopaedic hospital at the Nuffield. When our beautiful girl arrived we had 10 days before both her legs were put in plaster from the hipdown and 3 weeks later discovered she also has developmental dysplasia of the hip and the most extreme form of talipes. We now visit the children's hospital once a week for casting and adjustment of her body brace and this will go on for another 6 months or so before she will need two operations and then at least 5 more years of treatment. There are many families around the country who face this condition but very little is known about what causes it. Most children who have it globally are in the third world who for them it is very life limiting. Over the coming months I'll be doing a number of events and challenges to get my perfectly healthy legs working more. The money raised will go 50/50 to the Steps international charity that supports children in the third world with the condition and the Camelia Botnar Children's Orthopedic Centre in Oxford where Nancy is being treated. I am so grateful for the amazing world class care we get there for free because of the incredible staff of the NHS. If we were in America her treatment would cost us hundreds of thousands of pounds. Nancy will eventually gave fully functioning little legs, many children across the world are not as lucky as us x