Family of Wooler girl born without a hip socket help raise £600 for charity

Fahren Kelly and Scott Telford decided to raise money for DDH UK (Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip) as thanks for the support they have given Elise, their five-year-old-daughter.

Elise was born without a right hip socket but was only diagnosed with hip dysplasia, when the ball and socket hip joint fails to develop correctly, last September.

She underwent an operation at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Hospital the following month.

Unfortunately it wasn’t as successful as had been hoped so she is now awaiting a further open reduction operation

This is done when it is suspected that tissue is keeping the head of the femur (the ball at the top of the thigh bone) from going back into the acetabulum (the socket)..

Mum Fahren explained: “It was something that wasn't picked up at birth but as she got older and started to walk she developed a really exaggerated limp.

"At first it was thought that maybe she had one leg longer than the other but she kept complaining that it was sore so we went to the GP and got an X-ray done which confirmed it was hip dysplasia.

"Elise has taken it all so well. She was in two casts for eight weeks in total and had to be hoisted in and out of bed to a wheelchair,” said Fahren. “There have also been monthly trips to physio and hospital for follow-up appointments and x-rays.

"But she is one of the happiest girls you could ever meet. She always has a smile on her face!”

But Fahren admitted: "It was difficult for us at times, especially when we lived in a flat and Elise was still in her cast. We were struggling to get her down the stairs. Luckily, we’ve now moved into a house which is much easier.”

Fahren and Scott wanted to help families in similar situations and set about fundraising with help from Lisa Scott and Wooler Co-op. A raffle was organised and £621 raised for DDH UK.

It has been used to purchase a spica table – used to hold a hip or femur reduction and take fluoroscopic images of the patient before application of the hip spica cast - for Newcastle RVI.

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