Prinscio

Today's post has been reblogged from "Through My Porthole."  To think, we are not happy to be out in this weather, but we should be happy that we can be out!

A deep breath and a pause was required after I noticed the thick, dark callouses on the upper part of Prinscio’s feet. It was emotional to suddenly comprehend what those calluses were.

Prinscio was two when he took his first steps; walking on the tops of his twisted feet. Born with bi-lateral club feet, he developed this curious gait to get around. He was ashamed of the way he moved and he would declare “Don’t talk about my feet!” to anyone who stared. In every other way, Prinscio simply delighted in life. “He does everything with happiness. He smiles with his whole body,” his mother Joceline says.

Prinscio before and after his club foot restoration. Pic Katie Keegan

Within weeks of his birth, Prinscio’s parents tried correcting his condition with Malagasy massage. A dozen ‘healers’ gave them conflicting advice. His parents became deeply discouraged; they had spent so much money and nothing helped.

Three years later a medical specialist told them Mercy Ships was in Madagascar providing the exact treatment Prinscio needed – free of charge.

At his first appointment, volunteer physiotherapists explained Prinscio’s club feet could be corrected by plaster casts, minor surgery, exercises and the use of night-time braces.

The bright little three-year-old enthusiastically helped at his therapy visits saying, “I’ve got to do it!” He chattered about his dreams, “Mamma, when my feet are fixed I will ride a bike and play football. I will be like other kids!”

After eight sessions and a series of eight double leg casts, Prinscio underwent a minor surgery called a tenotomy ( a snip to his Achilles tendon) to attain the last degrees of correction in his feet.

Prinscio’s leg casting. Pic: Justine Forrest

As the day approached to finally remove his casts, Prinscio was beyond excited. His mother overheard him talking to one of his friends, “Tomorrow when I come home, my feet will be just like yours!”

On December 22^nd the casts were removed, revealing beautiful straight feet. Joceline exclaimed, “This is the best Christmas gift ever!”

Large, heavy calluses remain on the upper side of Prinscio’s small feet. It takes a moment to realise these are the ‘heels’ he previously walked on.

Prinscio now stands confidently, flat on the soles of his beautifully restored feet.