By Sofiia Tiapkina
Born in 2016, Varia has faced a challenging journey in her short life. A month after her birth, she developed a high fever and was hospitalized. The doctors noticed that she started crying loudly if anyone touched her right leg. After extensive examinations, they discovered the reason: osteomyelitis. The infection in the marrow of her thigh bone was about the size of a coin.
Despite quick treatment, Varia’s leg began to deform when she turned four. She suffered and limped, and her leg became five centimeters (about two inches) shorter than the other. Her father, now a single parent to two daughters, navigated her medical journey amidst the full-scale invasion.
In 2023, a breakthrough came with a modern external fixation device that allowed precise, computer-assisted adjustments to Varia’s leg. This device, vastly superior to older models, enabled effective and faster correction of her leg’s deformation.
Her father learned to rotate the many connecting elements (struts) in different directions. After two weeks, he noticed that his daughter’s leg began straightening. The device straightened the tibia and grew the femur. A month later, the child’s leg was almost as healthy as new. It became straight, as it should be.
Varia is now learning to walk again with a straight leg, though the journey includes managing a slight difference in leg length and potential future surgeries. The external fixation device that saved her leg was provided by the Patients of Ukraine in partnership with Nova Ukraine.
We are dedicated to continuing to supply medical institutions across Ukraine with the necessary equipment, medicines, and medical products that make health and recovery possible, as they did for Varia.
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