Born with deformity, my daughter started walking after three years of treatment

My name is Upendra Yadav, and I am from Nalanda in Uttar Pradesh. I work as a daily wage earner while my wife Pooja Devi takes care of the household work and our family of six.

Our friends and family were filled with immense joy when our youngest daughter, Trisha, was born. However, this happiness did not last long when we found that she was born with a deformity—one leg claw bent at the knee. 

At the age of three months old, we became more worried because of how twisted and high her legs were. We started to contemplate how she would live her life, given her condition. 

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Every day, I used to move from one location to another to find a cure for her, but to no avail. Among all these, I lost my job, and my family's financial situation deteriorated.

As Trisha grew older, she struggled greatly with sitting and moving on her own. We took her to numerous facilities for therapy, but nothing changed.

When she turned two years old, we continued trying home cures, including massaging oil on her toes and feet and tying plaster from a public hospital. We also consulted doctors in private hospitals, but these places rendered unaffordable to us.

The hope for her therapy was now losing support from all sides.

Someone who had visited the Narayan Seva Sansthan in Udaipur, Rajasthan, for treatment told us about the free services offered by the NGO for the disabled. It also helps patients to walk by installing prostheses and callipers according to their needs and circumstances. 

For the past 37 years, the Narayan Seva Sansthan serves humanity by performing free surgeries for differently-abled people, which gave us a glimmer of hope.

In February 2020, we travelled to Udaipur after gathering information from social media. The doctors evaluated Trisha and fastened a plaster strap following surgery on her right leg on February 25. 

Following the doctor’s recommendation, we went for a recheck a month later after the plaster was removed and stayed for a few days for treatment and observation.

Ankit Chauhan, one of the doctors at the NGO, said that Trisha’s operation was done with the help of the ‘Ilizarov technique’—which will straighten her crooked legs and improve blood circulation and bone growth.

Under this technique, the doctors insert a ring with the help of a hole in the foot to connect the bones and nerves.

On June 11, 2022, the doctors placed a ring on Trisha's foot. And three years later, today, the eight-year-old can walk comfortably. 

Despite the treatment lasting three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Trisha's foot is already showing significant progress, with the curvature corrected.

Our family is now ecstatic to see our daughter walking.