KYLIE and James Pratt remember it as one of the most agonising decisions they've ever had to make.
When their daughter Emilee was born with no tibia or kneecap and her right leg bent at the knee, they thought she'd require a plaster cast.
She was only two weeks old when doctors gave the family two options: amputate the leg, or have multiple surgeries with no guarantee they would be successful or eliminate the need for future amputation.
"It was really hard, because normally when you make a decision you're making it for yourself and live with the consequences," Mrs Pratt said.
"This was making it for someone else, who would have to live with it forever. I could not take it back once it was done, you can't grow the leg back. It's gone forever.
"I thought she would hate me for doing it to her."
The Edgeworth family will be featured on Tuesday's episode of Insight on SBS, which will focus on impossible choices.
Emilee, now 11, said she feels the decision to amputate her leg at nine months old was "the right one".
She received a prosthesis the week before her first birthday.
"I would not change it," she said. "I am who I am."
Emilee is a swimmer and has wanted to compete in the Paralympics - and been "in love with" Paris - for as long as she can remember.
"I saw an ad on TV that the 2024 Paralympics will be in Paris and thought 'I want to go'.
"I'll be 15 and in year 10 by then, I've already worked it all out."
Emilee has saved $1000 and is planning to step up her preparation, which comprises training two mornings every week and races with the Novocastrian Swimming Club on Friday nights.
"It will feel amazing," she said of qualifying.
"I will feel I have accomplished something I've always wanted to accomplish."
Mrs Pratt said although the decision was "impossible and heart-wrenching and terrifying at the time, we would not change it".
"She's been given so many opportunities.
"She would not be the same determined, independent, competitive person if she hadn't had the amputation. Nothing holds her back."
Mrs Pratt said the couple had sought a second opinion and spent hours researching other possibilities.
"In the end it came down to our goal for her, which was to live a normal life, or as normal as possible."
Multiple surgeries would have required time in a wheelchair and carried the risks of pain, complications and impacting Emilee's development.
"We realised we made the right decision after leaving hospital after the amputation," she said.
"We got to take her home, happy and healthy, just missing a leg.
"Lots of other kids will never get to go home.
"It's not the worst thing in the world that could have happened to her. She can move beyond it and have a fulfilling life with one leg."
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