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NEW YORK – 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, the corn farmer's daughter uses crutches to hobble on what should be the tops of her feet.
"I can accept it," Jingle said Wednesday in a voice so soft it was barely audible.
But if all goes well, Jingle won't have to accept the condition much longer – thanks to a Christian medical mission that encountered her case in 2003.
Clubfoot is a relatively common deformity, occurring in about one in 1,000 births. Children are usually treated in infancy with casts or braces that gradually bring the feet into correct alignment. The condition becomes harder to treat if it is not corrected early on.
Amaral said Jingle's case was complicated by the fact that her clubfoot was associated with spina bifida, a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings.
She and her mother Jasmine, a fish vendor, have journeyed from Luna town in Apayao province in northern Philippines, to a hospital in New York City for surgery Thursday and follow-up treatment that will consist of slowly rotating her feet until she can walk normally.
Jingle and her mother will stay with a friend in New Jersey during the treatment. Jingle's father is a corn farmer; her mother sells farm-raised fish door to door, carrying her wares on her head.
Jingle has other career goals. "I think a doctor or a nurse," she said.
source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net
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