I should give you a little background. So, I was born with sever lower limb deformities' and bilateral talipes (club feet) I thought that was too long for a blog site! so, My Two Club Feet. as I was saying, background: basically, my toes touched my heals, my legs were the wrong way round, I was folded in half, so my feet rested on my stomach and the bone between the knee and ankle was curved.
My parents were warned I may never be able to walk! They discussed options and a way forward. This did include just cutting them off which wasn't a option for my parents. This is the first part I feel lucky about. My father John was in the army and at this point you had military hospitals, so it felt like private health care and there was a massive team of doctors and surgeons who were willing to think out the box and try new things to give me the best possible start.
Most of my childhood was just operations, spending nearly a year in one go, even going to school there. A lot of my operations were a first only ever being done on a horse before, they basically broke my legs twisted them around and resetting them, took all the bones out my feet cut them up and put them back in, trimmed my foot to make it look more foot like. They also had to split my tendons three in each leg. As I got older to get the heals closer to the floor.
It wasn't all about operations, there's was plenty of physio that's still ongoing. I also had to live and go to sleep in different splints to train my feet to point forward.
Going forward I still have custom insoles, leg braces, no calf muscles, no ankle sockets, the bones in my feet are disintegrating, nerve damage through all the operations I have had, sciatica from the odd way my legs work. and so many pills that I should rattle when I walk. basically, six prescriptions thirty-three pills a day!
So, as I said earlier the first thing, I felt lucky about. well, here's the rest. My parents never bought me up to believe I had a disability, and I didn't know I couldn't walk. I just found a way. They let me learn my bodies own limits by trying new things. So early 2023 I am planning to do two marathons over two days and walk #london to #brighton and raise as much money as posable for other people with disabilities have their own #miniadventures, #followdreams, even start their own #business. I have had the chance to do so much, and I don't take any step for granted. I want to be #inspired and #inspire others.
Now that's my two club feet we can get on with my midlife crisis....