"When parents are faced with this disaster of seeing a baby born with clubfeet, they get to be very depressed.
When they go to the doctor and are told that their baby must have surgery, they are sad.
But when they can see that this deformity is nothing, that is a very easy thing to correct and the child is normal, they have hope." Dr Ignacio Ponseti
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miraclefeet offers a variety of ways to donate and help treat clubfoot one step at a time.
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Donate $250 to give the gift of walking!
$1000 is a lifetime of walking for 4 children.
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Zoe and Jasmin's Story
When the miraclefeet team started seeing donations made in honor of Zoe and Jasmin, they couldn't wait to find out who they were. They were even more impressed when they found out Zoe and Jasmin were only 7 and 5 years old, respectively. Here, their mother shares their family's story:
We barely knew what clubfoot was until my obstetrician called to tell me that my 20-week ultrasound had revealed bilateral clubfoot on my developing baby. Although this was a shock to us as first-time parents, we had time to learn more and prepare: to go to Boston for further detailed ultrasounds, to read about clubfoot and its treatment, and to meet doctors who could fix our newborn’s feet. In retrospect, we were so fortunate to have these opportunities which can easily be taken for granted.
The day of our daughter’s birth, Dr. Walid Yassir of New England Medical Center in Boston, fitted Zoe with her first casts. Her case was quite severe, but he was very positive that the Ponseti method, if followed through, could correct her feet. After her series of successful castings and a tenotomy, she went on to wear her foot abduction brace.
She was still wearing this brace during her sleeping times, when I went in for a 20-week ultrasound for our second baby. To our disbelief, this baby also had bilateral clubfoot! With no family history of clubfoot, we couldn’t believe this was happening again. But, I had so much confidence in Dr. Yassir and his team, I knew everything would work out.
When Jasmin was born, we went through the Ponseti treatment process again. Both girls grew up wearing their foot abduction braces when sleeping, so it seemed the “normal” thing to do. When Zoe didn’t need to wear hers anymore, she actually got upset and wanted to keep wearing them, so we let her!
During these months and years of my daughters receiving amazing medical care from Dr. Yassir (now at Children’s Hospital of Michigan), I often thought about all those families around the world who have no chance to help their children walk and run normally. Watching my daughters sprint back and forth on the beach here in Bermuda, I feel so lucky.
For the girls’ past birthdays, we have always collected donations for various local and international charities instead of birthday presents, to instill generosity and appreciation for what we already have. This is a great opportunity for the girls, despite their young age, to learn about world issues and that even individuals can make a difference.
Selecting miraclefeet for this year’s birthday fundraiser was an easy choice and, of course, one that is very close to our hearts! As Zoe, age 7, said “It makes me sad to see the photos of kids with clubfoot. I just want all the kids in the world to be able to walk.” Jasmin, age 5, echoes with a “Me too!”
Zoe and Jasmin, with the support of their generous friends and family, raised over $1000 for miraclefeet, enough to treat four children!
