Ntombi says, “I gave birth to my son Oyintando at Khayelitsha District Hospital. When I had given birth, no one told me there was something wrong with my baby’s feet. I was a teenage mother and it was my first baby. I thought that maybe all newborn’s feet are like that and they would turn out when the baby grows.”
When my son was three days old my mother decided to take him to the clinic as she could see that something was not right with his feet. They turned all the way in. When she arrived at the day clinic she was told that Oyintando had clubfoot and that it can be treated. We were told to go to the clubfoot clinic at Tygerberg Hospital on a Thursday morning.
Oyintando started treatment at the Tygerberg clubfoot clinic when he was two weeks old. The doctors cast his leg every week and then he was fitted with a clubfoot brace. He still wears the brace when he sleeps and will do so until he is four years old, which will be in August this year.
“My son’s feet look completely normal now. If it wasn’t for the clubfoot clinic Oyintando wouldn’t be able to walk, he would live with a disability affecting him every day. I am very thankful for the clinic.
– Ntombi
I would like to tell other parents that if you think your child has clubfoot, there are clubfoot clinics all over South Africa that will treat and fix your baby’s feet. Listen to the people at the clinic and go to every appointment. It is a small sacrifice for a lifetime of normality and happiness for your child.
