OP AND HER BIG SIS HELP GIRL We had to amputate tot’s legs so she’d be able to walk

And it is partly thanks to big sister Olivia who dotes on her, said Danielle, 26.

“Words cannot describe how proud we are of Freya,” she said.

“The first time Freya was able to walk along outside and Mummy and Daddy hold a hand each it felt like a miracle and we were bursting with pride.

“The little things that most people take for granted are so important to us.

“Having Freya’s legs amputated was a horrendous decision to have to make.

“She was trying to run around the house on her knees and her legs were just getting in her way. They would get caught on door frames and she would fall over them.

“It broke my heart. Our daughter was determined not to let anything get in the way of her doing what she wanted and her body was letting her down.

“They were holding her back so we made the heartbreaking decision to have them removed.

“She grins from ear to ear when we bring them to her to put them on in the morning. She already knows that once she’s put her legs on, she can go out to play.

“Taking away Freya’s legs has actually given her freedom she never would have known otherwise. We’d make the same decision again in a heartbeat.”

Danielle, a supermarket manager, had a smooth pregnancy, and it was only after Freya was born in September 2017 that medics noticed her legs hadn’t formed normally. At first, doctors thought she had a club foot.

But Danielle and Michael did their own research and realised it was more serious than that.

Danielle found other parents who had children with a club foot and managed to get hold of an expert – who, after seeing photos of Freya’s legs, told her parents to take her to an orthopaedic doctor.

Freya was eventually diagnosed with bilateral tibial hemimelia, meaning her shin bones had not formed.

She either faced years of gruelling surgery to rebuild her tibia, or amputation.

Danielle said: “We had already done a lot of research before we met the consultant, and we knew that we thought amputation would be the best thing for Freya.

“There was experimental treatment available in America, involving lots of surgeries, but no guarantees it would work. I think doctors thought we’d struggle with the decision, but Michael and I knew we couldn’t sentence our baby to a lifetime in and out of hospital, always waiting for the next surgery. The amputation wasn’t carried out until she was 18 months old. As it drew nearer and