Little boy to finally walk after crowdfunding pays for surgery
A three-year-old boy born with a disorder that affects growth in his right leg has finally had his specialist surgery after a mammoth crowdfunding effort and is on the road to recovery.
William Dickinson, from the Gold Coast, went through a gruelling nine-hour surgery last week, performed by renowned Florida surgeon Dr Dror Paley.
Dr Paley transplanted bone from William’s hip to his leg to repair a break that happened when he was learning to roll over and that never healed due to the rare disorder called congenital pseudarthrosis.
More than $185,000 was raised in eight months through a campaign created by William's mum, Aimee, to fly them to Dr Paley for the surgery which is not available in Australia.
The three-year-old is said to now be on the road to recovery.
"It was a rough night last night, William thought his legs had fallen off (effects of epidural),” Ms Dickinson posted on Facebook one day after the invasive surgery, The Gold Coast Bulletin reports.
“I sat on the end of his bed most of the night rubbing his foot so he could feel that it was still there.
“This morning he was put into a wheelchair and we spent a few hours playing with the toys, his physio today was to spend at least 45 minutes in it — he smashed that!”
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Ms Dickinson said she was hopeful her son would soon be able to learn how to walk.
“Hopefully the swelling has gone down by our next appointment on Thursday and we can get his hard cast on and start physiotherapy, teaching him to walk on one leg in a frame for the next three months,” she said.
If William had undergone surgery in Australia, Ms Dickinson said it would have not only been several surgeries instead of just one, but there was also a high chance it would have resulted in amputation.
