TEENAGER Charlie Hewson plays football for England — after docs performed incredible surgery to save his leg.
Charlie was just nine months old when he was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Ewing sarcoma in his left thigh bone.
Dan CharityCharlie Hewson, 13, was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma bone cancer when he was just nine months old but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a football prodigy[/caption]
Dan CharityCharlie plays for the England amputee team[/caption]
In a remarkable op, surgeons removed the upper part of his leg, then reattached and swivelled the lower section, so his foot became his knee joint.
Charlie, now 13, then adapted so well to his new prosthetic leg, he fulfilled his dream of playing football.
Mum Kate, 46, who lives in Lindfield, West Sussex, with husband Chris, 47, and their daughter Martha, ten, said: “He plays for the amputee England team and also Chelsea and Brighton amputee teams too, and he loves it.
“We are so proud watching him play after everything he’s been through.”
Kate and Chris first thought Charlie’s swollen leg was from an insect bite and were stunned to be told it was cancer.
He had six rounds of chemo before becoming one of the first patients in the UK to have a “rotationplasty”, where his lower leg was moved into his hip joint and rotated.
More chemo followed at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital when the cancer spread — but six months after surgery, the Charlton Athletic fan had a prosthetic leg fitted.
Kate added: “Charlie has always been mad about football, and over the years he’s had prosthetic limbs painted in his favourite team colours.”
She said he is an “inspiration”, adding: “It was amazing they managed to carry out this surgery.
“If they’d had to take his whole leg away, it would have been a whole different ball game for Charlie.”
Dan CharityIn a remarkable operation, surgeons removed the upper part of his leg, then reattached and swivelled the lower section, so his foot became his knee joint[/caption]
Dan CharityCharlie’s mum Kate added: ‘Charlie has always been mad about football’[/caption]