Challenges don't get these little amputees down

Lily Robbs

Lily Robbs was born in 2013 with Fibula Hemimelia, a congenital longitudinal limb deficiency characterised by complete or partial absence of the fibula bone, otherwise known as the shin bone.

"We found out about this condition at 20 weeks in utero when my wife and I went to a specialist due to the fact that she was carrying twins. We were told that she would require amputation of her foot.

"When Lily was born, she had a deformed right foot and we went to see Mark Eltringham at Sunninghill hospital, probably one of the best orthopedic surgeons in South Africa, and his opinion was also to amputate the foot, and in 2014 Lily had her foot amputated."

Lily learned to walk with her first prosthetic leg and she has never let anything get in her way, she is involved with tennis, swimming, soccer, and netball, and her latest sport is Jiu-jitsu, which she attends with her mom, twice a week. Lily runs around as if she had two normal legs but recently, she has been battling as her prosthetic leg has no spring and is not a high activity prosthesis.

Lily has also had two further operations for two reasons; the first was that her leg started to grow skewed so she needed what is called an eight-plate inserted into her knee, they call it an eight plate as it looks like the letter eight. This straightens the leg over time, she has now had that taken out. She also needed to have her growth plate stunted so that part of the leg would stop growing in order for her to fit into future prosthetics.

Lily lives in Johannesburg with her mom, dad, twin brother Harvey, and their dogs: Milo, Peppy, and Peanut. 

Lily is proud to be an amputee and she does not let anything stop her from doing the things she loves. 

Lily has recently become the ambassador of the Rejuvinate SA NGO which aims to get people mobile and active by whatever means necessary, whether by providing prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, crutches, or other mobility aids and they are on a major drive to get funding and awareness for this initiative.

Kelebogile Refilwe 

Kelebogile Refilwe was born on 12 May 2012.

She lost her arm in 2015 when she was only three years old due to tissue cancer.

Her family believes she has to share and give in life. 

Kabo Tinyiko

Kabo Tinyiko was diagnosed with amniotic band syndrome where there was a complication during her mother's pregnancy, thus she didn't fully develop on the left limb, and thus she was born as a left limb amputee.

She loves to dance, sing, and take pictures. She always says she wants to be a singer.

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Image Credit: Images Supplied