By Matthew Sims
Most seven-year-old girls spend their days playing with their friends and singing and dancing.
However, Gerisha dreamt of something which most young girls take for granted – wearing shoes.
Born in Vanuatu with bilateral talipes or clubfoot, the birth defect saw her feet twisted and bent out of shape, leaving attempting to move extremely difficult for her.
With the help of St John of God Berwick Hospital and Children First Foundation (CFF), she has received a new lease on life, with surgery in January allowing her to be able to walk on her own.
The St John of God Berwick Hospital team helped farewell Gerisha on Tuesday 29 August.
Gerisha’s case was more complicated than other cases of clubfoot as she no longer had a left foot.
When she was four, a doctor visiting Vanuatu agreed to operate on her feet, which led to further complications.
Although the surgery was initially successful, the hospital in Port Vila did not have the appropriate resources to provide the follow-up care needed.
Gerisha then became extremely unwell and in order to save her life, doctors decided to amputate her left foot.
With no left foot and her right foot not functioning properly, her quality of life was severely impacted.
Port Vila Central Hospital general surgeon Dr Samuel Kemuel alerted CFF to Gerisha’s story.
“When I saw Gerisha, I knew she needed help immediately,” he said.
“That’s why I reached out to CFF for help.
“There are many other children we see here at Port Vila Central Hospital who need help too, but we simply don’t have the resources.”
With the support St John of God Berwick Hospital and orthopaedic surgeon Professor Ton Tran, CFF facilitated Gerisha’s travel to Melbourne’s South East and her surgery with the goal to help her walk again and lead a happy and free life.
Professor Tran said Gerisha’s journey was the result of collaboration from a number of different organisations.
“Not only did Gerisha undergo surgical correction of her right foot, but we conducted revision of her amputation stump, which allowed for the better fitting of a lower limb prosthesis,” he said.
“Gerisha then learnt to walk with the help of the Children First rehabilitation team and oapl who have fitted and donated Gerisha’s new prosthetic leg.
“She is now truly independent and walking on her own.”
Gerisha said she was excited to show off her new shoes at school.
“I can’t wait to get my first pair of shoes so I can be just like my sisters and my friends at school,” she said.
“Pink is my favourite colour, and I wish for some pink sandals.”
