I wanted to write to express our gratitude for your recent help with our son’s very painful feet.
Our son Thomas has been experiencing problems in September 2021. It began when he suffered an injury to his knee whilst playing soccer. He was instructed to rest for 6 weeks before training or playing again. Once he returned to sport he started experiencing very severe pain in his heels.
Our extremely athletic and contented child has been on a roller coaster ever since. We have seen countless professionals both privately and through the NHS including Physiotherapists, paediatricians, and orthopaedic specialists. We have had MRI scans, x-rays and ultrasounds in order to get a diagnosis. In the meantime, we have been visiting a private local podiatrist who prescribed insoles, which we have since learned could have been contributing to his problem as they were so ill-fitting!
Finally, this past Christmas 2022, it was confirmed that he had Sever’s disease, a growth plate issue commonly found in active, rapidly growing children. We hoped that with the diagnosis and more rest, the end would be in sight. This issue is usually experienced for a very short time.
Throughout all this time our son has dutifully complied with each professional’s advice and instruction, wearing his in soles, resting and icing his heels. Each time there would be an improvement and he returned to exercise he would suffer immeasurably, and we would be back to where we started. He has missed two seasons of soccer and Gaelic football for his teams, not to mention countless sporting opportunities through his school.
Our son’s life has been devoted to playing sports, he is not only able but exceptional at many sports including soccer, Gaelic football and basketball. His whole identity has been based on his athleticism and his interest in and participation in sports. Not being able to play for the best part of 2 years of his 14 years of life has made him feel isolated and frustrated and ultimately led to a decline in his mental health. As a parent, watching your child go through something like this is incredibly hard.
After 6 months more of doctors’ unhelpful and dismissive advice and an inadequate local podiatrist, we decided to research alternative options. I called the Foot and Ankle Clinic at the beginning of June 2023. David graciously spoke to me over the phone, he listened to our story and after hearing about his experience and reading other people’s testimonials we made the 2-hour round trip.
At the first appointment we parked 5 minutes away from the clinic, my son struggled to walk this far and after a consultation, a decision was made to order two types of custom-made orthotics for my son to wear. David listened and understood the gravity of his problem for my son and cared enough to spend time with us building our confidence in his work. Whilst he makes no promise to any patient that his treatment will work we left feeling hopeful.
Two weeks later we collected his in soles and now a further three weeks after wearing them our son is almost entirely pain-free! In just a few weeks, and a half-hour consultation David has achieved more for our son than a whole army of other professionals could not. Our son is physically walking ‘normally’ again, free from constant, excruciating pain, but the greatest news is that we now have a child who is mentally happier and hopeful for his future in sports again and for this, I am eternally grateful.
My wish is for this testimonial to reach others in a similar position who have been passed from ‘pillar to post’ by other professionals and the NHS and for them to call David safe in the knowledge that he will do his best for their care based on a wealth of knowledge and experience in this field.
Thank you David for helping our son to get back to what he loves to do and move forward with his life. It is worth more to us than winning the lottery!
-Danielle, Guy and Thomas de Rose
