THE family of a son born with club foot has touched the hearts of hospital staff, with a special thank you for their part in treating him.

David Hayden, 8, known as DJ was born with two club feet - a condition affecting one in 1,000 children – causing his ankles and feet to bend downwards and inwards.

His mother Paula Hayden, from South Ockendon, opted for DJ to undergo the Ponseti treatment technique at Basildon Hospital.

It involves plastering the baby’s leg soon after birth, to stretch the foot gently and painlessly. This is followed by the child wearing ‘boots and bars’ for the next three to four years.

Following years of treatment from the physiotherapy team, DJ now loves karate, climbing trees and all activities that any youngster should be able to enjoy.

DJ said: “I think it was right for me to wear the boots and bars otherwise I wouldn’t be very well now.

“I wore them for a long time but I’m happy that I put them on.

“Sometimes it hurt a little but I still learnt how to walk.”

His mother Paula added: “The treatment was amazing.

“I always say if I won the lottery, I would give all my money to Basildon Hospital.

“We will always remember the happy welcoming faces, the friends we have made and everything they did to make sure that DJ can keep up with the rest.”

After DJ was discharged, the physio team were touched to receive a plaque of his footprint on a beach, with the message.

It read: “Thank you for making it possible for me to leave footprints in the sand.”

Claire Lam, lead paediatric physiotherapist, and the other two senior paediatric physiotherapists, Anna Gettings and Kevin Dann, had specialist training in the Ponseti technique.

Claire said: “Babies come to the clinic once a week, and go in the bath to soak the plaster off.

“We examine them to see how the foot has changed, and put on a new plaster cast.”

After four to six changes of plaster, a small cut to the Achilles tendon called a tenotomy is carried out, and a final cast is applied. The next stage is to fit the baby with boots linked by a bar to hold the feet in the corrected position and stop the muscles and ligaments becoming tight again.

Nicole and Nick Crawford, from Grays, are one family who feel encouraged by DJ’s story. Their ten-week-old son Cody recently had his final plaster cast applied, following a tenotomy.

Nicole said: “When we first received the news at my 20 week scan I did feel upset. I had no previous knowledge of talipes it was quite scary.

“But both the midwifery and physiotherapy teams were fantastic and gave us lots of information.

“My husband says Steven Gerrard had clubfoot so Cody can become a professional footballer if he wants to.”