‘Tiptoe’ girl facing op No11 at age of 13
Teen’s ordeal to correct shorter leg
A BRAVE young girl who was left with one leg 8cm shorter than the other has undergone a series of “agonising” operations to lengthen her limb.
Isla Burns, 13, was diagnosed with Limb Length Discrepancy when she was just a baby, meaning her left leg doesn’t grow at the same rate as her right.
The Edinburgh lass has had a gruelling 10 operations so far, including one which saw her left leg broken and then encased in a metal brace.
The condition means Isla walks flat on one foot and tiptoes on the other.
A growning teen, Isla will need further lengthening surgery, her 11th operation.
Mum Annabelle Santini Sprot said: “The lengthening process was awful for Isla, she was in constant pain. She’d sob through the physio sessions. It was horrible to watch and not be able to help.
“As a parent, you wish you could wave a magic wand and take it all away, especially when she is facing it again, but at the same time you know it’s what’s best for her.
“Isla is always apprehensive in the run-up to operations because going through so many operations is exhausting, but she knows she just has to get through it.”
Isla was just three months old when her mum noticed her left leg was shorter than the other when playing with her.
Doctors soon after diagnosed the tot with LLD and she underwent the first of her surgeries at just 18 months.
Annabelle said: “She is an absolute trooper but we can’t take away from the fact that she has spent so much time in hospital. The Edinburgh’s Children’s Hospital Charity is so invaluable.”