Bulumko Magwegwe’s 5th birthday was on the 2nd of December. He recently celebrated another big milestone, his successful graduation from clubfoot treatment!
We celebrated with Bulumko and his mother Nobaxolisi and presented him with a STEPS treatment graduation certificate at the Tygerberg Hospital clinic where he was successfully treated.
We first shared Bulumko’s story in June 2021 when he was in the boots and bar phase. https://steps.org.za/news-blog/bulumkos-clubfoot-story/
Bulumko was born with bilateral clubfoot, and his mother Nobaxolisi was shocked when she was first told. She had never heard of clubfoot, and nobody in her family had ever had clubfoot.
At the tender age of one week old, Bulumko had his first clubfoot casts applied at the Tygerberg clubfoot clinic. Bulumko and Nobaxolisi were soon like family at the clinic. They attended their regular weekly appointments travelling almost an hour each time, until Bulumko’s feet were straight and he started wearing his boots and bar at night.
Nobaxolisi says, “Everyone at the clinic told me that if I took my son to his clubfoot appointments and followed the process everything would be okay. They gave me hope. It was not always easy to come to every appointment, it was expensive coming every week at first, but that did not last long. It was also helpful speaking to Jane from STEPS and the other mothers at the clinic.
In the beginning, I struggled a bit with the shoes at night, but after a while it was okay. I realised that they would only be part of our lives for a small time, and we got used to them. When Bulumko got older he would try and take his shoes off, but luckily that was just a phase and we got through it.
My advice to other parents is, don’t panic, your child will be all right. I am so excited that my son has normal feet. He loves playing soccer and running, and he can do everything he wants to do – your child can too!”
