Congenital limb deformities affect youth throughout the world. The Now Newspaper takes a look at this in a recent article titled “Surrey teen with rare affliction shoots out the lights on hoops court.”
Gordon McIntyre of the Now Newspaper writes, “You should see him dribble, you should see him shoot. Evan MacNamara’s underhand baskets from beyond the three-point line, a two-handed crossed-wrist lift that begins between his knees, both amaze and dismay his opponents. And he’s making those shots and dribbling around the competition despite a rare affliction called arthrogryposis, a lifelong condition that starts in the womb and prevents the muscles and tendons from keeping up with the rate bones are growing. It can affect practically every joint in the body and hinders range of motion. MacNamara, a 15-year-old student at Sullivan Heights Secondary in Surrey, has spent his life having his limbs and torso stretched and massaged, and having reconstructive surgery on his bones and feet. ‘If you’d told me when Evan was born that he’d play basketball, I’d have laughed in your face,’ his mom Michelle said. ‘I was shocked and amazed when he began playing. When he was young, they’d stretch his joints until he was screaming. It was quite the ordeal and he was just a baby.’ Evan credits his buddy Austin Swedish with getting him involved in hoops. He’d watch his friends play, he said, and one day his best friend decided it was time Evan joined them under the baskets. ‘He taught me,’ Evan said. ‘I liked the pace of it.’ When he began high school, Evan made the Grade 8 team. Flustered defenders didn’t know what to make of his unorthodox underhand shooting and would usually wind up hitting his arms on their way up, fouling him. ‘That’s just kind of the way I started shooting,’ he said. Michelle — Evan’s dad Kelly died of a heart attack five years ago — said she wasn’t aware there existed a Special Olympic team in Surrey until two years ago.”
Surgery is an option for many with a congenital limb deformity. Rex E. Moulton Barrett, M.D. is a surgeon you can trust for this procedure. Dr. Moulton-Barrett is board certified with The American Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and The American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
Congenital limb surgery is done as a day procedure. The surgery for your child will be based on their exact condition. For more complex cases, it may require complex surgery. Surgery may involve carefully cutting through or around bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons and other tissues to remove the extra digit. Then the surgeon may need to move or reconnect some structures before closing the skin so the whole hand or foot works well and looks normal.
If you are considering congenital limb surgery, contact us for a consultation.