Help Nikitah walk again!

Nikitah is our 9 year old daughter, at the age of 7 years old she fell down the steps at school causing an impaction injury in her left foot.

Doctors dismissed her injury as a sprained ankle however Nikitah remained in constant pain, the two years that followed were filled with many visits to doctors, specialists, x-rays, MRI's, SPECT scans and cortisone injections under anaesthetic in Tauranga, Waikato and Auckland along with many hours at physio therapy.

The impaction has caused the arch of her foot to fully collapse now also requiring a complete flat foot reconstruction. This surgery includes gastroc slide (calf muscle lengthening) combined with lateral column lengthening using femorral neck allograft, (donor cadaver bone) planter closing medial cuneiform osteotomy and the fixing of the original impaction of her Talus bone.

This combination of surgery has not been done on a child her age in NZ before.

She will be undergoing surgery at Grace Hospital in Tauranga on 11th August 2025, with a long non weight bearing time before re learning to walk again, with full recovery estimated to be up to a year.

She used to be an active, Netball and Dance loving kid who can no longer do the things she once enjoyed, and now attends the Northern Health School.

This has taken a massive toll on her physical and mental health so fundraising to make her recovery as enjoyable as possible.