Help Our Baby Girl Get the Care She Needs for a Rare Leg Deformity at Her Birth

We never expected to become parents, but life had other plans, and Mari came into our world.

Now we can’t imagine our world without our beautiful baby girl. From the moment we learned about her, she became our everything.

At just 25 weeks gestation, our lives changed even more when doctors diagnosed our baby with Tibial Hemimelia, a rare and complex bone deformity affecting the growth and function of her leg. Without treatment, amputation is often the only option—but with today’s advancements in pediatric orthopedics, there is hope. Specialists can use cutting-edge limb-lengthening procedures over several months and years to save her leg, giving her the chance to walk on both of her own feet.

Our Journey for the Best Care

We started locally at Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, grateful to have access to care for our daughter, who suspected she may have posturomedial tibial bowing.

However, as we’ve learned more about her condition and the complex treatments required, we realized that we needed to ensure she has access to the very best specialists in the nation—those who have successfully treated cases like hers time and time again.

This means traveling to top pediatric orthopedic centers such as Scottish Rite for Children in Dallas, TX, and the Limb Lengthening Institute at Sinai Hospital in Boston, MA. These hospitals specialize in limb reconstruction and lengthening, offering advanced treatment options that could allow our daughter to keep her leg and live an active life.

Why We Need Help

Seeking the best care comes with overwhelming expenses. In addition to the costs of multiple surgeries, X-rays, ultrasounds, and clinic visits, we also have to cover travel expenses, lodging, and time away from work to get her to these top specialists.

We are a single-income family and cannot afford childcare in order for both of us to work full time. I am an artist and photographer who stays home to care for our daughter full-time, while Dad is a veteran and a long-distance, over-the-road truck driver who works tirelessly to support us. He spends long weeks away from home, doing everything he can to provide, but the financial strain of these medical costs is more than we can manage alone. Without help, we fear we won’t be able to afford the care that could give our baby girl the best future possible.

How You Can Help

We are humbly asking for your support. Every donation, no matter how big or small, will go directly toward our daughter’s medical and travel expenses, ensuring she gets the best care possible to keep her leg and have the chance at a normal, active childhood.

If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing our story to help us reach more people who might be able to help. Every share, every prayer, and every act of kindness means the world to us.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for giving our little girl a chance at a brighter, independent future.

With love and gratitude,

Becca, Mari & Hunter