Did you know that? Maybe not since most articles I have read don’t mention it. If you google “Oscar Pistorius Fibular Hemimelia” it does come up. I didn’t watch the Olympics so I don’t know if it was mentioned there either.
Some say he had an advantage despite scientific evidence otherwise. Prostetics have not yet advanced passed the ability of the human body. At least as far as my googling shows. If you’ve not got feet, and ankles, and calves you’ll have to use what you’ve got to make up for it, and that is quite a feat, carbon fiber springy legs or not. Still it’s really hard for me to look at this guy and think “disabled”.
When Oscar was born I doubt his family had any other option other than amputation. Even if they had options they might have still chosen amputation as many parents still do. There are kids on the various FH support groups with bilateral FH and prosthetics. I am sure they, and their parents have found a hero in Oscar Pistorius.
It’s a beautiful thing for a child to be able to look at their television and watch this amazing man, who is “like” them, run to the cheers of the world. I am thinking there will be kids asking for those amazing cheetah legs like crazy now. Most kids I’ve seen on the support groups don’t get those legs. I doubt most insurance would cover them. Which makes me wonder if Mr.Pistorius might be just the person to help these children get better prosthetics. Couldn’t an olympic athlete raise awareness and fundraise to an extent that most of us do not have the ability to.
Ahh… ability. We’re back at that again.
Oscar is quoted as saying “Being disabled doesnt have to be a disadvantage.” That sounds great and rings true but I can’t help but wish Fibular Hemimelia was mentioned more. I can’t help but wish he would use his fame to benefit children born like him who might never have access to those amazing prosthetics which enabled him to compete at the highest level possible. All kids with cheetah legs won’t all make it to the Olympics. But we’re not all born athletes wether we arrive with all the usual bones or not. He could raise awareness of FH in general and benefit all children born with limb defects.
Oscar Pistorius is an athlete. He is an athlete who was born with Fibular Hemimelia which was treated by amputating his legs below the knees. I suspect that if he was born with his fibulae in tact he would still be an athlete. If you took the time to look at his body beyond his legs I think you would see that this is true. He is an Olympic athlete and an inspiration and to be celebrated as such. He may not have entered the Olympics with an advantage but he sure does have one now and I hope he uses it.
From our families perspective it’s just not been that high on our radar. I don’t think it’s come up that much but last night I started to wonder. Nicholas woke up crying from a bad dream. In his dream he said he had a surgery on his leg but Dr.Standard couldn’t fix it and his leg fell off the operating table and he woke up with a prosthetic. As he told me this he was crying and holding onto his leg.
Nick has known for a long time that amputation was an option and for many the choice treatment for FH. Maybe having to have an extra surgery has made him scared and that influenced the dream. I don’t know really but what I do know is that Nicholas could not imagine a life without his leg. I know that even with an amputation and a cheetah leg Nicholas would not be an olympic athlete. It’s just not who he is.
I had a doctor (a pro lengthening doctor) tell me when we were choosing between amputation and lengthening that Nicholas would never run a marathon with his own leg but he could with a prosthetic. This doc didn’t think that was a reason to amputate. I didn’t either.
Oscar Pistorius is inspiring to me like anyone who is able to overcome and achieve greatness. For him the “No Fibula or rather No Fibulae, No Problem” title fits quite nicely. He’s just not going to be the guy my boy points to and identifies with. Even though he was born with Fibular Hemimelia, which you might not have known until you read this.
No Fibula No Problem 