- Lillia Reading has muscular myopathy with meant she couldn’t walk
- Condition meant she had just two muscles in each leg instead of normal 15
- Her legs were permanently bent at the knee and she had no strength in them
- She now had 13 operations and been fitted with splints to allow her to walk
By
Rachel Reilly
05:45 EST, 24 April 2013
|
07:04 EST, 24 April 2013
Lillia Reading born with muscular myopathy, a condition that caused her to develop just two muscles in each of her legs
A four-year-old girl who was born with just two muscles in each of her legs can finally walk after doctors fitted her with splints.
Lillia Reading was born with muscular myopathy, a condition that caused her to develop just two muscles in each of her legs, instead of the normal 15.
It also left her with permanently bent knees.
But she is able to walk now after doctors cut the tendons behind her knees and gave her a pair of splints to straighten her legs.
Her mother, Katie Reading, 31, said: ‘Lillia is just like any other little girl now.
‘She can walk, run around and play happily with all of her friends. It’s amazing what they have done for her.
‘She’s a proper little princess – she loves her make up, clothes and painting her nails. And know she can strut around like one too!’
Lillia, from Sheffield, first showed signs of suffering from the condition before she was born.
Mrs Reading, 31, said: ‘They could tell something was wrong from the 20-week scan. It was first thought she had club foot.’
But after she was born four weeks early, weighing 4lbs 5ozs, specialists confirmed Lillia’s condition – a rare form of muscular dystrophy.
At just 17-weeks-old, she was put into special boots to try and help straighten her legs.
She also underwent 13 gruelling operations, but her treatment was unsuccessful.Â
‘She was very squashed,’ Mrs Reading said. ‘She struggled to life her head up and couldn’t bear any weight on her legs.’
The condition also meant Lillia was cross-eyed, and left her with no control of her line of vision, but doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital successfully corrected her vision.Â
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The condition left her with permanently bent knees
Lillia’s mother’s 20-week scan suggested that she had a club foot but she was diagnosed with muscular myopathy when she was born
 VIDEO Amazing! See Lilliana walking unaided thanks to new splintsÂ
After having the tendons behind her knee cut, Lillia was discharged from hospital, to see how she naturally progressed.
Her father, Nick Reading, 32, said: ‘It was incredible, one day she clearly found the urge to want to walk.
‘She tried to pull herself up on her legs but she didn’t have any strength in them.
‘It was a massive step because she wanted to do it – before she would just shuffle around on her bum.’
She underwent 13 operations to try and correct the abnormalities in her legs that were preventing her from walking
During one of the operations, the tendons in the back of Lillia’s knees were cut to allow her to straighten her legs
Following this progress, doctors fitted Lillia with leg splints, which she can put on, as and when she needs them.
Mrs Reading, a hairdresser, said: ‘They go from under her bum down to her ankle, and bend round her knee so she can walk normally.
‘They are like cages that go around her legs – she looks like Forrest Gump!
‘If she wants to get up and run around she can just pop them on, and then take them off when she wants to sit down comfortably – it means she can be like any other child.
Lilllia has now been fitted with splints that allow her to walk. She is pictured with her parents Katie and Nick, and her brother, Harley
Lillia is now looking forward to starting school in September
‘She wobbled a lot to begin with and her balance and confidence wasn’t great, but that quickly grew and it has given her great charisma.
‘Lillia now goes to nursery and she can’t wait to move up to big school in September.’
Mr Reading, a hydraulic engineer, said: ‘She has shown so much bravery throughout all of this and she’s always got a huge smile on her face.
‘She’s one tough cookie!’
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