Gwilym Wren's Story

i have club feet
I was born in 1956 to what was then regarded as elderly parents. My father was 45 and my mother 39.
My mother had had at least one miscarraige and I think they felt I was the last chance of a child so they were overjoyed at my arrival and the fact that I had a 'bad leg' was not important.

In fact I had a club foot on the right side. My foot was pointed upwards and my leg was about 3" shorter than the left.

At an early age (before 5) I had tendon strecthing surgery at the Nuffiled Orthopaedic Hospital in Oxford, followed by a plaster cast to force my foot into a an angle so that I could stand. This worked but the articulation of the ankle joint is very poor, just a bit of up and down - no rotation is possible.

As well as having a short right leg I had a withered calf and very small foot. However, the early surgey allowed me to walk and get around fairly easily although the doctors told my parents that they would have to try and even up the leg length if they could.

When I was about 6 I wnet into hospital for leg lengthening. They cut through the tibia and fibula on my right leg and affixed a screw. This was turned daily gradually pulling my leg apart. Quite painful. The theory was that if a gap was left bone would grow into the gap to mend the break and I would have a longer and stronger lower limb than before.

I think I was in the Nuffield for 6 weeks with the screw being turned daily. They had to stop because my leg was so thin that it could not take the strain any more. However they had managed to reduce the deficit by 1.5" so I was left with a bit of a limp but much better able to walk.

From then on I had to return for check ups and progress reports which gradually diminished by the time I was 16. In the meantime I had gone to school and played various sports such as soccer and rugby. I could not run fast and was always a bit worried about hurting my 'little leg'.

I went to boarding schools so hiding the leg wasnt an option but I was never bullied or teased about it (I was teased about being Welsh however - but in the 1970s we were winning the rugby!!). My leg was accepted and just got on with it.

I can only remember one occasion when my leg got me special treatment and I was picked up halfway through a cross country run! Quite a relief but I still felt a bit guilty that I was 'swinging the lead'.

In my late teens I started to get pain in my lower back assocaited with having a unbalanced pelvis. The doctors had said I would need another operation to level me up when I had stopped growing but it was the severe lower back pain that drove me back to the Nuffield.

In 1980 at the age of 24 they took a chunk out of the top of my left femur, pinned the break and sent me home level. Quite a peculiar feeling really as the pin made me slightly wider than I had been before so I tended to hit things or misjudge gaps. Also my body had adapted to a slight curvature of the spine caused by walking with different lentged legs for 15 years or so.

The operation was a success although I had problems with a haematoma and troubly getting upright. I was level with two legs of equal length whic was fantastic, particularly as my back pain ceased.

About 15 months later they took the pin out and I was able to start getting active again. I was never a great sportsman but did play rugby, cricket and ran a half marathon.

And since the pin was removed I have got married had 2 children and kept in generally good health. I have always had very occasional non sepcific knee pain on the right and that continues from time to time. In recent years I have had odd bouts of back pain which can be alleviated by sitting on a firm chair.

As for getting old. Both knees have had anterior knee pain which I am told is age related and not due to my leg or previous imbalance. Otherwise I am OK. My gait has also placed pressure on my left hip so I have had physio and advice to try and prevent failure in that joint as I get older.

I have always had a fairly positive view of my leg and my feet, so have not worried over much about wearing shorts, but I am slightly more sensitive in my home village for some reason.

Mind you buying shoes is a real pain! As I said my feet are of different sizes. The big foot is 10.5 or 11 and the small one 4.5, so not only do I have to buy 2 pairs but because the small foor is smaller than adult male sizes I can rarely get a style match. But that doesnt bother me too much. The cost does though!

I have to say I have not come across someone with as big a differnce in feet sizes as me. When I was young the small foor was so small that I kept on falling off the raised soles I was told to wear, and it became easier to wear normal shoes and not risk turning an ankle that would not turn. That didnt help my back though.

I count myself incredibly fortunate because my foot/leg has not stopped me doing anything I wanted to do. I was really lucky to be sent to the Nuffield Hospital which in the late 1950s and early 60s was the world lead in treating conditions like this. I am sure it was their world class treatment that has led to me having so few problems.


Added on 05 Oct 2006

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