Grinning from ear to ear as she takes her first pain-free steps, this is the moment Freya Gibbs’ parents feared they’d never see.
For it was only because they made the
heart-wrenching decision to have her legs amputated that the two-year-old is finally able to walk.
Adorable Freya was born with a condition affecting just one in three million children.
She had no shin bones in her legs – meaning she could only move by crawling on her knees.
Her parents Danielle and Michael faced an agonising choice. They could let Freya face a lifetime of painful surgery in a bid to rebuild her shins – or ask medics to amputate her legs.
Today mum Danielle declares: “We couldn’t bear to see our happy, giggling baby in pain.
“Now we see her running around, playing with her big sister like she’s always wanted to, we know we made the right call.”
Just six months after Freya’s legs were taken away, the little fighter is walking without pain for the first time in her life.
The tot was given her first set of prosthetic limbs just four weeks ago. Within days she had learned how to walk and was strolling hand in hand with big sister Olivia, eight.
Watching her two girls play together at home in Llandysul, Carmarthenshire, Danielle beams with pride as Freya runs around like any other girl her age.
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 nearer, it made me feel sick thinking about it.
"But as Freya was getting older and progressing, I could see all the things she couldn’t do because of her legs and how they were holding her back.
“It was a mixture of terror and relief that she would finally be free of them.
“Watching them put my baby to sleep and wheel her down to surgery was one of the hardest things I have ever done.
“When she woke up after the operation, I knew we had done the right thing.
“Within two days, she was crawling all over the bed, as happy as could be. We were a bit worried because we needed to let the wounds heal but there was no stopping her.
“Now she has the prosthetics, she is thrilled because she is able to go and play outside, just like her big sister.
“Olivia absolutely dotes on Freya, it’s lovely to see and there’s no doubt that Freya would not be doing nearly as well were it not for their bond.
“Before her amputation, she would be trying to walk on her knees and following her sister around, but her legs were getting in the way.
“As soon as she got her stumps she was on them and walking over to Olivia, not me and her dad.
“After the amputation, she learned to pull herself up by climbing all over Olivia. We hope she will just continue to go from strength to strength.”
Freya's cause
The family are now fundraising for prosthetics that Freya will need in the future – and they hope kind-hearted Sunday People readers will help them reach their goal.
They aim to raise £10,000 to cover the cost of new legs she will need as she grows, including running blades so she can join in PE lessons at school.
Danielle added: “As Freya gets older, the prosthetics she needs get more complicated and expensive.
“She is such an active little girl. We would love to be able to get her a pair of running blades so she can play outside and join in with her schoolfriends.
“It’s a postcode lottery as to whether these are available on the NHS so we have started saving now so that we know we will be able to get them for her. We really want her to have every opportunity so we want to make sure she can get the best prosthetics possible.
“She would be devastated if she couldn’t run about with her friends any more.
