Troy is a chill, down to earth 10 year old from Spruce Grove, Alberta. Troy loves video games, video creation, archery, baseball and most importantly, his friends.

At just 3 years old, Troy was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease. CMT is an inherited progressive degenerative neuromuscular disease. CMT affects the peripheral nervous system and causes the signals from the brain to the hands and feet to not be received correctly. This can lead to muscle weakness and/or atrophy. CMT often leads to severe foot and hand deformity. CMT is a very rare disease that has no cure and very little is known about it. The only treatment to date is surgery for those that have severe foot and hand deformities. Troy has been diagnosed with type 1A; the most common form of CMT. Troy’s symptoms however are very severe for his age. He has had three surgeries already with the last one offering no ongoing benefit. Troy is a part time wheel chair user and wears AFOs (Ankle Foot Orthosis) daily.

Troy’s parents have made the hard decision to seek a full foot reconstruction in the United States. Troy’s right foot needs to be operated on ASAP and his left foot within a year. Without the surgery, Troy could lose all mobility. The surgery is a full foot reconstruction that includes a heel ostomy, tendon transfers, muscle transfers and releases and rods placed in the toes to straighten them. We unfortunately do not have the specialists in Canada for such a complex surgery like they do in the United States. The cost of the surgery alone is $85,000 USD (approximately $116,500 CAD) per foot. Any little bit helps make this surgery a reality for Troy and give him decades rather than years of mobility on his feet.

We have known Troy, Charlotte and Kirby for the past 5 years. They are generous, community driven and the most loving family. Our lives have truly been blessed by knowing them!