Miraclefeet

Miraclefeet: Giving the Gift of Walking
Having been born with club feet myself (which were successfully operated on when I was very young, thereby helping to avoid a life in a wheelchair) and with a number of friends and relations also sharing the condition I was a sitter for the Miraclefeet proposition when I came across it.

A particularly attractive aspect of this programme is that it doesn’t require surgery to restore full mobility, and in turn give these young people access to the full range of life choices. It uses the Ponseti Method and treatment is successful in 95% of cases restoring normal appearance and full functionality of the feet.

It is estimated that there are some 1 million children living with untreated clubfoot in developing countries (with some 150,000 children born with clubfoot each year, or one in every 750 children born in the developing world). Interestingly, Aotearoa New Zealand’s indigenous Māori have a club foot incidence some five or so times the international average.

When I first posted this page Miraclefeet had operations in Brazil (4 clinics), India (12), Mexico (8) and one clinic in Nicaragua. Since that time it has added clinics in Liberia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and Ecuador and Namibia are next on the list.

The organisation started operating in 2010 and already had some 1,000 children in treatment by the end of the 2012 year. That figure had risen to 2,000 children in treatment by March 2013, a full 4,000 children by the end of 2013, and a further 3,500 in 2014 alone!!

Importantly, Miraclefeet has shown itself to be truly scalable and has a target of helping a total of 20,000 children by 2017. As a contributor (albeit only a very modest one, unfortunately) I really appreciate the full transparency of the costs and results achieved annually by Miraclefeet.

As part of highlighting  the condition, the quality of life possibilities provided by treatment, and the opportunity to provide direct support through the effective Miraclefeet organisation I have started a Miraclefeet Aotearoa site on Facebook.

US$250 will treat a child and return these children to full mobility, and give them all the pleasure and life options that go with full mobility.

Give the Gift of Walking: I’m sure Team Miraclefeet would love your support too!!

For further background, information and inspiration:

Miraclefeet has a FaceBook presence here:

And their website is here:

And an explanatory video here.

And a presence on Tumblr here: