Joseph Barry's Story
I was born in 1974 in Boston, Mass. With severe club feet. Both feet were turned in and my right foot was almost backwards. I started out with the braces, corrective casts, and the Forest Gump shoes with the bar in the middle, but nothing worked. I have had 13 opeations on my right foot and 3 on my left. I was too young to rememeber some of them, but do remember at least 7 opeations. I was 16 years old when I had my last operation. I had a lot of the operations done at Tuffs Medical Center in Boston and I have to believe that something went wrong. I beleive my Doctor was Dr. Goldberg, but my right foot was really deformed after surgery. It looked like I walked on my ankle and I couldn't get my foot into a regular shoe because it was so wide. In 1992 I went to the Shriners Hospital, The best Organization in the world, and they repaired the damage as best they could. I could walk a a lot straighter and wear regular shoes. Which was all I hoped for. I have a lot of scaring, still suffer from a lot of pain, and now my right ankle is beginning to clapse into the top of my foot. I try to stay as active as possible, but sometimes I just need to take it easy.
If anyone reads this and know of any children with club feet ages 0 - 18 I would highly reccomend the Shriners Hospital. They have a great website that lists all the locations. I promise you that their care is top notch. Also, If you see them at Parades or other public functions please donate, they do a lot great things for people and never ask for a dime.
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