Story
The London bloody Marathon. Something I’ve dreamed of for years since seeing my Dad run as a kid, and somehow, I’ve been given the chance sooner than I ever expected. Nine months of proper graft ahead, but every mile will be an absolute privilege because I’m running 26.2 of them for STEPS and for my little boy, Noah. This is his story so far …
Our Noah will be 1 in September and you wouldn't know it from the look of him but the beginning of his journey was far from straight forward. He was born with fixed Talipes in both feet. Talipes, or more commonly known as Club Foot is a lower limb abnormality that can come in various severities and variations. Noah unfortunately scored the highest rating on the Pirani scale, and within his first 24 hours in our arms, developed quite a serious infection. What followed was a whirlwind of tests, scans, and a week having to watch him in special care, which was the first of three significant hospital stays in his first month of life! Something you never even consider before they’re born.
During those early weeks, Noah was fed through a feeding tube, monitored constantly, and faced more medical involvement than most babies experience in a lifetime!
Once we finally made it home, we began the first steps of Noah’s journey, the Ponseti treatment… Ten weeks of full time, toe to groin leg castings, with weekly trips to the fracture specialist department to have them cut off and repositioned, countless appointments with physios and eventually the dreaded Tenotomy operation, where they begin the process of elongating the Achilles tendon in each of his feet to enable them to straighten. This was completely overwhelming for myself and my fiancé Belle, who have both struggled in our own way since his birth, but we couldn’t be prouder of how our little man has come on since those early months – with the 3 of us being in such a better place now!
Some of those terms may be completely alien to you, like they were to us in the beginning, but that is where STEPS made such a huge difference. The information and helping hand we found with them, not just in understanding Talipes, but in coming to terms with the diagnosis itself. Reassured us to no end, made us realise that we weren’t alone at all and that the fear and almost guilt as new parents was pretty normal, and most importantly that there was a clear path forward that so many people have gone through before.
As we finally begin to see the light through the trees of this first stage of his journey, Noah’s feet are looking better than ever and I feel incredibly grateful and proud of how he’s dealt with everything. Fully aware that we still have a proper task ahead of us now, with him having to wear the Boots and Bar brace (top left) every night until he is 5 years old.
Every mile I run next year will be for our little nugget, that little legend that’s far braver than his old man! But also, for the families whose little ones are still at the beginning of their own Talipes journey.
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We are Steps Charity Worldwide - We don’t take walking for granted
Steps is the leading charity working for all those whose lives are affected by childhood lower limb conditions. Everything we do is about valuing and supporting individuals, families and carers affected by conditions which have an impact on the legs, hips or feet.
We are the only charity which supports the most common and much rarer lower limb conditions.