Toddler with 'backward legs' walks for the first time thanks to life-changing surgery
A three-year-old girl born with both legs bent backwards has walked for the first time after the public helped to raise money £180,000 for surgery.
Victoria Komoda has tibial hemimelia – a condition which causes babies to be born with deformed limbs and missing bones.
Two years ago, her parents were told by eight specialists that the only option could be double amputation.
But the Polish family sought help from US surgeon, Dr Paley, who performed two awe-inspiring surgeries. The Florida-based surgeon amputated her right leg and fit a prosthetic to enable her to walk.
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Victoria had her first nine-hour operation on July 14, 2018 where her right leg was amputated above her knee and pins were put into her left leg before a fixator was attached.
Over the course of several months, screws were placed into her legs every day to move the bones into the right position.
A second operation on November 13, 2018 helped to fuse the bones in her left leg together to strengthen it.
![The toddler can now walk, run and play thanks to the life-changing surgery [Photo: SWNS]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/0z.rkT0gXM63gsz_yWNHDw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyODA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/13524bc49075fffbccab856690988c26)
In order to afford the life-changing treatment, her parents raised £180,000 from generous communities in Norwich and Szezcin, Poland.
After nine months of treatment, their daughter can now walk, run and even play sport.
“She was in a lot of pain all day and all night,” her mother, Marzena Drusewicz, said: “We had all had enough. It was really horrible.”
![Victoria Komoda photographed with her mum Marzena Drusewicz [Photo: SWNS]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5SsNGtPRq0O8oQqf0k_Iyg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTE0NDA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/09eb87ae09847433e2ddb8cb607cc5f7)
“Of course I was so scared and didn’t know what would was going to happen,” her mother, Marzena, said. “She would cry and scream so much after the operation.”
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“Every week she got better and better and now she is not in any pain at all and can walk normally and we can all start our life again now we are home,” she continued.
“We were so happy when she took her first steps we started crying. We were on the way to the car and she said: ‘Mummy, can I show you something?'”
Victoria will start school in September.
