I thought I'd share this newsbit with you all...In her 15 years, Jingle Luis has never walked on the bottoms of her feet. Born in the Philippines with feet so clubbed they twist backward and upside down, she uses crutches to hobble on what should be the tops of her feet.
But Jingle may not have to accept the condition much longer. She and her mother have journeyed from the Philippines to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx for surgery and follow-up treatment that will consist of slowly rotating her feet until she can walk normally.
Jingle and her mother arrived in New York on April 17. In Thursday's two-hour procedure, screws were inserted into the bones of her feet and attached to scaffold-like devices that will stabilize her feet while the screws are turned bit by bit. "It's like putting together an Erector Set," Amaral said during the operation. He estimated that it would take a month to rotate the feet a few degrees at a time.
The scaffolding will be replaced by casts and then by braces, which Amaral expects Jingle to wear for about a year. Then Jingle hopes she'll be wearing high-heeled shoes, said the girl's mother, Jasmine Luis.
Jingle's father is a corn farmer; her mother sells farm-raised fish door to door, carrying her wares on her head.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking the time to comment. :o)