MiracleFeet Featured in BBC News

Every year 200,000 babies are born with clubfoot and, of the nearly 10 million people alive today who were born with it, as many as eight million have never received treatment. In late 2022, BBC reporters visited Senegal to hear directly from patients and families searching for clubfoot care. This article details the emotional stories they encountered as well as the passion they witnessed from MiracleFeet partners, providers, and ambassadors.

Changing the lives of Senegalese people disabled by clubfoot

^{This article was originally published on BBC’s News website on November 21, 2022.}

As Africa holds its first ever conference on clubfoot – something about one in 800 people across the world are born with – the BBC visits a health clinic in Senegal to witness a transformative treatment which is turning lives around.

Earlier this year, 14-year-old Serigne was reluctant to ever leave the house. He could walk very slowly, but – born with both his feet pointing inwards – he was just too ashamed. Some would make fun of the way he walked, others were afraid and would call him names. But now, less than six months on, his feet are transformed and his dream of playing football for Senegal seems at least possible.

Serigne has clubfoot, also known as talipes, and today is another step in the journey to correct that.

Every year 200,000 babies are born with clubfoot. According to the charity MiracleFeet, of the nearly 10 million people alive today who were born with it, as many as eight million have never received treatment. Senegal has been a relatively late adopter of Ponseti – a pioneering method of correcting clubfoot named after the Spanish doctor who invented it – compared with some other African countries. Malawi and Uganda, for example, were ahead of many Western countries in recognising its potential.

Read the full article.