Kian and Callum Jarram are 11 and 7 years old. They love soccer, and have always loved to play, despite the fact that it causes them excruciating pain.
Kian and Callum both have Adams Oliver disease, which they inherited from their father.
It only affects 125 people in the entire world, and these sons and their father are three of them.
Adams Oliver disease is a birth defect that causes malformation of the limbs and skin abnormalities, with occasional bone abnormalities as well. It often causes abnormalities of the hands and feet.
The boys, and their father, can all walk on their malformed feet, but it causes pain for the boys especially.
Despite their condition, they still play soccer, with Kian being the captain of two soccer teams.
But their father, Jon, was tired of seeing his sons in such pain, so he started a fundraiser to get his sons silicone prosthetic feet—a cost that the NHS in the UK wouldn’t cover.
With donations from friends, family, and even stragners, the boys now have prosthetic feet fitted just for them.
It’s caused so much joy, and their father says it’s caused relief in almost every aspect of their lives.
“To them it’s such a luxury to be able to pick proper shoes for themselves and they’re so excited about it,” said Jon. “The first thing they said when I told them about these new feet was that they just want to be able to wear flip-flops.”
He says it’ll help with their soccer playing, too. “They don’t let [their condition] hold them back at all, but as a dad, to stop them being in so much pain doing something they love will be amazing.”
It’ll also stop them from being bullied or stared at, says their father.
“The boys have been quizzed at school with people asking why they have such small feet, and on holiday by the pool we can hear people whispering about it.
“Kian starts secondary school next year and now they won’t be any bullying about his condition…the prosthetics will look so real that other people won’t even know they’re not.”
The condition has also affected their hands, and left Kian with three fingers on one hand and five shortened ones on the other, and Callum with two fingers on one hand and three on the other.
Their prosthetist, Mark Ledger, has never seen anything like if before, but was happy to help.
“I’ve never come across Adams Oliver syndrome before and I’ve bene practicing for 25 years. To have it passed down is also very unusual…with these prosthetics we want to protect their feet a bit more and hopefully correct their alignment.”
