NATHAN

👋 HIPpies, meet Nathan, a brave #hipdysplasia warrior who was also born with Down Syndrome.

🚶‍♂️‍➡️ Nathan was diagnosed with #hipdysplasia at 11 years old, but his mobility challenges started long before that. Nathan also had a stroke in utero, which has affected his right side since birth, and due to the stroke, his gait was always a little bit off.

Down Syndrome (DS) causes developmental delays of differing severity (depending on the individual). Hip dysplasia also occurs in 5-8% of children with DS, but it is not widely researched or understood. We plan to change this with the Rare Hip Conditions Registry, the newest registry in the Hippy Global Registry Program.

The first symptoms of hip dysplasia that Nathan’s parents noticed were when he began developing a limp and a clicking sound in his hip.

🩺 In December 2018, Nathan underwent his first surgery to correct his hip dysplasia.

⚠️ 6 months after his initial surgery, the hardware inside his hip broke and he was rushed into emergency surgery to remove and replace the broken hardware.

The second part of Nathan’s treatment plan included a growth plate arrest surgery on his left leg so that he did not face challenges of leg length discrepancy.

⌛️ It took close to 2 years for his hip to fully heal from the initial surgeries due to complications with Down syndrome, so by the time he had the growth plate arrest surgery, his left leg had already grown longer. Nathan now wears lifts in his right shoe to compensate for the leg length discrepancy.

💚 Even though his healing took time, Nathan remained happy and positive through every setback, cast, and wheelchair.

🐶 Today, he is passionate about basketball, Challenger baseball, swimming, and loves video games and music. He’s also incredibly social and just welcomed a new puppy into his family!