A Scots mum whose 10-month-old daughter was born with club foot has said she hopes representation of the condition on ITV’s Love Island will help more people understand it.
Rachael Duncan’s baby girl Dusty-Rose has had dozens of casts fitted to her legs and has undergone surgery to cut and correct the tendons in her ankles.
We previously told how the tot, from Bridge of Don, is strapped into boots and a brace to give her a chance of walking normally after being born with severe congenital talipes (commonly known as club foot) - meaning both her feet face inward.
The condition hit the headlines last week as a new series of Love Island saw contestant Hugo Hammond, who was born with clubfoot, enter the villa.
The 24-year-old PE teacher from Hampshire became the first disabled contestant on the show.
Rachael, 22, hopes the move will open conversation and spread more awareness of her daughter’s condition.
She said: “I have had a lot of people tagging me and screen shotting it to me.
“It’s a reassurance because you just don’t see it anywhere. All the headlines were saying it was the first contestant with a disability, I didn’t even know if was classed as a disability because it is normally such a fast treatment.
“I am really glad I think it will 100% make more people understand it.”
Little Dusty-Rose now wears her casts for 16-hours through the night and Rachael said she is responding well to the treatment.
She said: “She has been in and out of casts. They’ve said she has an a-typical feet complex.
“She has been back in plaster casts for about a month. She has a brace for 16 hours each night which goes on from 4pm to 9am.
“She has been absolutely fine with them on. She started to get some eczema but I think that’s because she has had so many plaster casts and it is taking a toll on her skin.”
Rachael received the news of Dusty-Rose’s condition at her 20 week scan where she was told the condition is classed as severe and will require years of corrective treatment.
She had initially felt devastated but is now determined to show the world that Dusty-Rose will not be held back.
Rachael praised the staff at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital for their support.
She said: “She was taking a while to be able to roll over herself but now she is crawling, it’s not holding her back.
“When she was first born all I could do was trust the doctors but I panicked when they said her feet were a-typical.
“The staff at the hospital have been amazing. All my concerns are listened to and I don’t need to feel scared or nervous.
“You kind of feel like a family at the hospital because we all know each other. At the beginning we were in hospital twice a week but our check-ups are not so regular now.”
Dusty-Rose now gets to spend more time at home with brother Ollie, 4, and sister Charlotte-Hope, 3.
Rachael is an agency nurse who worked during the heart of the pandemic and also tested positive for the virus during her pregnancy.
However, the mum-of-three says there is no way of knowing whether the virus has any relation to Dusty-Rose’s condition.
She said: “No one knows for sure if it’s linked because we don’t know enough about it or what the longterm effects are.
“There are mum’s who gave birth after having covid and their babies were totally fine.”
It is hoped the tendons will have reformed and her bones fused in the way they are supposed to by the time Dusty-Rose is five-years-old.
Rachael joined Facebook pages for parents across the UK with children going through similar treatment and advised anyone looking for support to reach out.
She said: “I just want to reassure people going through it at the beginning that they can reach out and there is support.
“I joined two Facebook groups called Clubfoot and Talipes UK and Clubfoot Support, they are really, really good. There is a doctor in each of those groups who is world renowned in treatment for clubfoot so really good for answering any questions.”
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