‘Our girl can walk!’
It’s been a long road – but Mia Stewart is finally able to walk, just like other kids
It’s her playful giggle that draws you in. It rings out across the park in Wagga Wagga, NSW, causing all within earshot to smile instantly.
Then she comes into view, a little girl smiling beneath her shock of Shirley Temple curls, striding proudly ahead of her mum and dad. She’s a headstrong kid, with very firm ideas about what she wants to do and where she wants to go.
But this is no ordinary toddler taking a stroll. Two-year-old Mia Stewart was born with the rare condition proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD), which affects just one in 200,000 children. It means her left leg is two-thirds shorter than her right due to an underdeveloped femur.
One step at a time
“Seeing her walk independently is a miracle”, proud mum Leila Bright, 30, tells Woman’s Day.
“When Mia was diagnosed the doctors gave us the option of not keeping her, but we never even considered it. Look at her, so full of life! She’s just like any other kid, because at this stage she doesn’t know she has different legs.”
At nine months old Mia was fitted with a prosthesis so she could learn to walk. She calls it her “shoes”. “Wearing it is natural to her, it’s just part of getting dressed,” Leila says.
Trips to visit doctors and specialists in Sydney have seen the family travel over 5000km and spend more than $10,000 on accommodation alone.
With Mia needing four new prostheses a year to keep up with her growth rate, they’ve wondered if it’d be simpler to move to Sydney.
But 12 weeks ago Leila and husband Brent, 28, a builder, welcomed another daughter, with the safe arrival of Andie – and they’re determined to stay in Wagga Wagga.
“This is where our support, family and friends are,” Leila explains. “Our community is so caring. This is where we do our fundraising to ensure Mia has the best treatment.
“People here all know and care for Mia. The footy team, the Wagga Wagga Waratahs, have been eagerly helping raise money towards Mia’s treatment. They’ve been truly amazing.”
The family hope to raise more than $200,000 to travel to the US, where PFFD treatment is more advanced and where Mia could have “super hip surgery” and a leg-lengthening procedure.
To support Mia, visit Mia’s Little Leg, Big Adventure on Facebook.