‘Still smiling and singing’: The teenager who has endured surgeries since nine days old

Lucy Mae Owens, like most other teenagers, loves music and dancing. She also hopes to play on the school basketball team next autumn. Her favourite singer is Dermot Kennedy and she and her family have tickets for his concert in Dublin this month. Lucy Mae’s favourite song is Kennedy’s Better Days and she maintains that “better days are coming”, just as the song says.

Going to the concert is a goal for Lucy Mae who has had numerous surgeries on her left foot as she was born with talipes (club foot) in Mullingar regional hospital in October, 2009. “The condition had not been detected during any antenatal scans. When Lucy Mae was born she was seen by the paediatrician and the physiotherapist, and I was told that she would be referred to Temple Street Hospital for a review,” explains her mother Rena.

Following that, there have been many procedures, the first when she was just nine days old. The most recent was in January of this year.

That first procedure in 2009 was percutaneous tendo achilles release, which meant her foot was manipulated and a full leg cast was applied from her hip to her toe. This procedure was repeated several times over 12 weeks to correct the position of her foot. In between operations, there has been physiotherapy and treatment to stretch her left foot to match the length of her right foot. For this purpose, she was fitted for orthotic boots. These boots had a bar attaching the left and the right boot. Lucy Mae was required to wear these boots for 11 hours every day until she was walking. When she became mobile and walking, she was required to wear the boots only at night time.

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At four years of age, Lucy Mae had further surgery to reposition her foot. During this surgery, she had wires inserted and a tendon transfer. She had to have a cast again following this surgery as a result of her foot relapsing. Later the same year she had a botox injection and a tibial posterior transfer and she also had a posterior medial release on her left foot. Following each procedure, Lucy Mae had to wear a cast.

In March 2017, when Lucy Mae was seven, she had further surgery where she had a distal tibial supramalleolar osteotomy on her left foot. This was the removal of bone from the bottom of her left leg where it meets her foot to bring her heel down to the ground. This procedure was successful for a short period, but as Lucy Mae was growing her left leg was slower to develop than her right. Her left leg was 3cm shorter than her right. She compensated by walking on her toes and the ball of her foot. Her left foot is also three sizes smaller than her right foot.

But through all this, Lucy Mae has remained a happy outgoing child and teen. She and her sister Anna sing in the parish choir, she loves art and walking her dog Stella. “Lucy Mae is a wonderful girl with a personality that shines,” Rena says. “She is always smiling, even with all her appointments she is still smiling and singing. She is happy-go-lucky. She is so positive and I will always keep her positive, which is so important. She is determined not to let the frame hold her back, which it does not. She is able to manage most things independently.”

The family — mother Rena, father Marcus and sister Anna — has been supported by a wide circle of relatives, friends and colleagues who have always been prepared to step in when help is needed because of the frequency of Lucy Mae’s treatments. The Sacred Heart School in Tullamore, Co Offaly, where Lucy Mae has just finished first year, has been particularly helpful. “It makes life with the frame easier when you have support. Just because I have a frame on it doesn’t mean I have to be treated differently,” she says. During Covid, Lucy Mae started to get pain in her foot, back, leg and hips due to the difference in leg length. An operation to lengthen her left leg was discussed and it was decided that the operation would take place in Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital in Dublin.

Cappagh Kids opened in September 2022 and Lucy Mae got an appointment the following month. Lengthening her left tibia and fibula was considered to be the best option and she was put on the theatre list for surgery. The next appointment was in December for a review with the limb reconstruction team. Lucy Mae was shown the frame that she would have inserted on to her leg. She was initially upset and alarmed at what was involved. “At this appointment I was advised that there was a waiting list and Lucy Mae would be placed on the list,” Rena says.

“There was no time frame given. On January 12th, 2023, I got a phone call from Cappagh Kids informing me that there was a last-minute cancellation and would Lucy Mae be able to attend for surgery that day. We took this cancellation appointment without any hesitation due to the waiting list.”

Both the surgery and the ongoing recovery have been complex and challenging for Lucy Mae and her family. Lucy Mae needs to have her wounds from the pin sites going from the frame into her bone showered and dressed daily, which Rena does. Her occupation as a community nurse is invaluable. “I am constantly observing for any signs of infection. It is very common following this procedure that the pin sites can get infected. This can often result in hospital admission for IV [intravenous] antibiotics — early intervention is paramount. I always have oral antibiotics at home in case Lucy Mae needs to start taking them.”

Lucy Mae admits that pain is an intermittent issue. She takes pain relief medication when needed. The post-surgery programme to lengthen her left leg involves turning the dice on the frame four times per day to lengthen it, which in turn extends the bones until her left leg is the same length as her right. There are also weekly X-rays to show how her leg is progressing and when it is no longer required to continue to lengthen her left leg. An indication of her indomitable spirit is that she has christened the frame “the external fixator”. One of the big challenges at that time, jokes Lucy Mae, was finding appropriate trousers to go over the frame. She returned to school less than three weeks after the surgery.

“The school principal Ms McKenna, and deputy vice-principal Ms Healy and all the staff have all been very supportive. They have gone above and beyond at times for me. I am fortunate to have a great group of friends who are very important to me and help me get through the bad days, but as the song says ‘good days are coming’.”