Completed petition Specialist prosthetics for child amputees

My daughter was born with a rare condition called Fibular Hemimelia, meaning a total absence of fibular bones. She has the rarer version of it, which affects both legs. A few days after her first birthday she underwent a double amputation at Alder Hey hospital. A few months later she attended the Limb Centre at Wrexham Maelor to fit her first pair of prosthetic legs.

We have never had anything other than excellent and skilled service from the staff at the Centre; but her prosthetic legs are by necessity, heavy and rigid. She can walk, but slowly. She can climb, but with difficulty. She has never known what it is to run as fast as she can, to be able to ride a bike, or to keep up with her cousins as they race around the park. She has overcome so many challenges in her short life, but she faces many more.

As a parent my wish is that she can be the best version of herself; that she can play without struggling to keep pace with her peers and that she can participate fully in all aspects of life.

Soon she will be old enough for specialist prosthetics. If they were available to her on the NHS it would make a world of difference to her as she goes about her daily life.

I know other child amputees in Wales are facing similar struggles, and I believe that our children are as deserving of the specialist support as English children. Westminster has just released an additional £1.5 million funding to help English amputees. The number of child amputees in Wales is much smaller than in England, but their needs are the same. We’re not asking for millions, just for equality.

My daughter will spend her entire life wearing prosthetic legs. Specialist support could make a huge difference to her as she grows up. Please don’t deny her and other Welsh amputees the support offered to English children.