Ponseti's wish

[Guest guest]

I wrote something up to send but couldn't figure out

how to reduce the size of the picture so I could email

it. I have a picture of him with Alaya as a newborn

and one with him at the symposium last year.

I started by saying that Dr. Ponseti has changed the

lives of children worldwide. That he is 91 years old

and has been treating children with cf for over 60

years. I stated that cf is one of the most common

congenital diseases in the world and many children are

left crippled or in pain because of no treatment or

painful surgery. (I had stats from the symposium) I

briefly described that his method is non-surgical and

effective 90-95% of the time. Watching him mold the

feet of newborn babies is like watching a master

scupltor at work. He gently quiets the infant and

molds the plaster into position to mimic the use of

the foot, with classical music in the background. He

is so gentle the children rarely cry and he speaks

softly to them while doing the casting. Because of

his gentle nature the children and parents refer to

him as " Papa Ponseti "

I talked of his selflessness, humility and his passion

that by the year 2010 his wish is that no child with

clubfeet would be left untreated. His method is

gaining support and more doctors are learning the

benefit of using it. However, it is imperitive that

we tell others about this method so that children will

not have to be scarred for life by unnecessary

surgery.

The wish would be to honor him by bringing back some

of his adult and child patients and do donate money to

his foundation so more doctors can be trained and more

children treated.

I think it's important that we touch a cord of emotion

right away then give the background.

Joanne