Story
<p>Danielle Bradshaw is a brave 12 year old girl who was born with Development Dysplasia of the hips and knee. The full story can be found in our Joint Action October 2010 newsletter with an update in the December 2010 issue - <a href="http://www.jointaction.org.uk/JA_News">www.jointaction.org.uk/JA_News</a>. It is an extremely heart-wrenching story about this brave young girl who made the difficult choice to have her own leg amputated. <strong>Danielle's decision may have been easier, and her options wider, had there been more research into the outcome of her condition.<br /><br /></strong>Out of 700,000 babies born in the UK each year, over 17,000 will be born with an Orthopaedic (musculoskeletal) condition:<br />* 1-2 in 1,000 may have a development problem of the hip and knee.<br />* Clubfoot occurs in 1 in 735 (boys are affected twice as often as girls)<br />* Perthes' Disease affects 1 in 8,000, when the ball of the hip joint loses its blood supply resulting in deformity.<br />* Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy affects 1 in 3,500 boys.<br />* Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis affects 10,000 to 20,000 children under 16. <br />* Cerebral Palsy affects 2,000 a year at birth and is a condition we can influence right now.<br /><br />Danielle wants to help Joint Action raise funds for research into Paediatric Orthopaedic conditions so we can find more innovative ways to improve current methods of helping children in similar situations. Outcome measures for early treatment are poor and there is a real problem in respect of screening for Danielle's disorder. If left untreated, osteoarthritis will eventually develop. Despite efforts in the past, the diagnosis of the condition - for Danielle and others like her - can still be too late. More research is needed to find ways of detecting the condition earlier and more research means more funds are needed.<br /><br />So please dig deep and donate now. Don't forget to Gift Aid!</p>