- Born with a clubbed foot, Christina Forster, from Largs North, SA, son Rufio is adapting to life as an amputee.
- Not wanting to delay his adaptation to life with a prosthetic, Christina advocated for docs to amputate Rufio’s leg sooner than later.
- Now almost two, Rufio is hitting milestones in his own time.
Here Christina,34, tells her story in her own words.
As the doctor’s words hung in the air, I gripped my partner Myles’ hand.
This can’t be happening, I thought, fighting back tears.
It was February 2023 and I was 20 weeks pregnant. Myles, then 35, and I had just been given some life-changing news.
We’d been dating for a year when we learned we were going to be first-time parents.
‘Imagine if it’s twins?’ Myles joked.
‘It won’t be,’ I laughed.
But during my 12-week scan, I was in for a huge surprise when the doctor detected two heartbeats.
Shocked, I was equal parts terrified and excited.
Two weeks later, a blood test confirmed they were both boys.
Then in December, when I was four months along, Myles got down on one knee. ‘Will you marry me?’ he asked.
‘Yes!’ I beamed.
During my 20-week scan, I watched in awe as the sonographer took measurements of our babies’ arms, legs, hands and feet.
But as they zeroed in on one of my boy’s legs, I had a sinking feeling…
‘Is everything okay?’ I asked.
‘I’m having some trouble measuring twin B’s right leg,’ she explained.
‘Twin B has a clubbed foot and is missing a bone in his lower leg.’
Leaving the room, she returned with a senior sonographer who explained we would need to chat with a maternal-fetal medicine specialist for more information.
That afternoon in the specialist’s office, we hoped there was some sort of misunderstanding.
But when she explained what they’d found during the scan, I struggled to process the news.
‘Twin B has a clubbed foot and is missing a bone in his lower leg,’ she said.
‘He’ll either need multiple surgeries to lengthen his leg or to have his lower leg amputated,’ she added.
READ MORE: ‘Toddler’s legs amputated after he grazes knee’
But they wouldn’t be sure how severe it was until after he was born.
Heartbroken, I felt like my world was crumbling.
Both options seemed so extreme, I couldn’t imagine putting my helpless boy through any of it.
Still, I was grateful that his brother wasn’t affected in the same way.
‘We’ll just take each step as it comes,’ Myles said supportively.
‘The best course of action will be to amputate when Rufio is around two.’
In June, when I was 37 weeks and one day, I was at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide, for my scheduled caesarean.
Our sweet Alfie was born first, weighing 3.1 kilos, followed by Rufio at 2.7 kilos, three minutes later.
Our boys were perfect, born with a full head of brown locks, just like their daddy.
Then I noticed Rufio’s right leg looked slightly shorter than the left and his foot turned inwards.
After I had a quick cuddle with them, our sons were whisked off to the NICU.
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Doctors confirmed our boys, who were identical, had low muscle tone, but were otherwise healthy.
The following day an orthopaedic surgeon confirmed that Rufio had tibial hemimelia, meaning his tibia bone was completely absent, making his knee and ankle joints unstable.
The congenital limb deficiency happens in less than one in a million births.
‘The best course of action will be to amputate when Rufio is around two,’ the orthopaedic surgeon explained.
‘He’s our little fighter.’
Devastated, I worried about how it would impact Rufio’s future.
Will he be able to ride a bike and play sports with his brother? I fretted.
And I also worried about Rufio comparing himself to his twin brother and asking, ‘Why me?’
In an attempt to straighten his lower leg and foot and make reaching milestones a little easier as he grew, Rufio underwent serial casting on his leg – a series of casts applied to gradually increase range of motion in muscles and ligaments.
And while it worked to straighten his clubbed foot, his leg was still too weak to carry his weight, when he pulled himself up to stand at 11 months, not long before Alfie.
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Without a bone, his little right leg just dangled floppily.
As an orthopaedic nurse, I did lots of research and discovered that if Rufio’s leg was amputated before he started walking, it’d be much easier for him to adapt to life with a prosthetic.
It was an impossible choice, but I begged his surgeon to cut off our boy’s leg as soon as possible.
Agreeing his leg was holding him back, the surgeon pushed to find him a sooner surgery date.
So in September last year, at 15 months old, our boy had a three-hour op where doctors successfully amputated his right leg at the knee, as he was born without a knee joint.
Incredibly, just 48 hours after surgery, Rufio was standing up in his hospital bed on one leg, waving to all the nurses.
‘He’s our little fighter,’ I smiled.
Back at home six days later, Alfie and Rufio’s faces lit up when they were reunited.
But keeping Rufio still while his wounds healed was no easy feat.
To help burn off some energy and strengthen his leg, Rufio worked with a physio and occupational therapist, and underwent hydrotherapy sessions.
Two months later in November, Rufio was fitted with his first prosthetic, inspired by his favourite TV show, Bluey. It was incredible to see him standing strong for the first time.
While Rufio spends more time playing with his prosthetic, which we sweetly call ‘leggy’, than wearing it, I know he’ll adapt in his own time.
Our boys are the cheekiest pair who are always smiling.
While they both love balls, cars and swimming in Nana’s pool, Rufio is my quieter twin and loves to do puzzles and read. Alfie loves to run, throw and play.
Due to their low muscle tone my brave boys have reached their milestones a little later than others.
Watching Alfie take his first steps at 16 months was amazing, and he quickly figured out how to push Rufio around the house on their train set, and I know Rufio won’t be far behind.
Together my boys are unstoppable.
