Nothing really gets in the way of 12-year-old Riley McCluskey.
Not even the 10-pound circular, metal frame that’s drilled into his right leg to help the plucky 80-pound kid lengthen the limb.
“I’ve played every sport that every other kid plays in; nothing really ever stopped me.”
Indeed, the Grade 7 Byng elementary student stars for his school basketball team on a regular basis and plays hockey for the Richmond Jets when he doesn’t have the OrthoPediatrics frame called “Orthex” attached.
The frame is used by podiatric and orthopaedic surgeons to treat complex fractures and bone deformities, including Riley’s fibular hemimelia, which he’s had since birth.
The condition causes his right leg to grow at a slower rate than his left, mainly from the knee down.
At age seven, he was the first child to be lengthened with the frame at BC Children's Hospital by Dr. Anthony Cooper.
The first frame, which he wore for around a year, lengthened his leg by seven centimetres and the second, which he had fitted last September, has already added six centimetres.
His parents, Nancy and Shawn, have to turn a screw on the frame a quarter of a millimetre, three times a day to encourage the bone in his leg to grow.
But as difficult as it must be for them to see their son carry around a contraption that’s more than 10 per cent his body weight, it’s a far cry from the grim alternative put to them before his first frame was bolted to Riley’s leg.
“Amputation. That was the only other option at the time,” said Shawn.
“Amputation was the fix-all at that time. It was talked about in front of (Riley). He was very aware of what was going on.”
Asked how he remembers feeling about the prospect of losing his leg, Riley, who’s had about a dozen surgeries in his life, shrugged his shoulders and said, “I felt that I’d like to keep it.”
Nancy, however, said it’s always tough to see your child dealing with something as severe as the condition he has.
“From birth, he was in hospital all the time. Then he was in there every three or four months per year, up until his first (frame),” she added.
“It’s always difficult to watch your child struggle and have a difference. Kids can be very cruel, it’s not always easy.
“But he’s a whipper-snapper; he’s got a great personality and doesn’t let anything keep him back. They’re going to have their moments, but he’s taking it in his stride.”
Shawn said the family hopes the current frame is the last one he’ll have to wear, when it comes off in the next few months.
When he stops growing, Shawn said doctors are “estimating that he’ll only be about half a centimetre short on that leg. But most people’s legs are different.
“It is still a bit of a guess. It depends a lot when she stops growing.”
Riley’s older brother, Zach, 16, already measures a mere six foot, three inches, so there’s every chance he’ll start to stretch pretty soon.
“He just keeps going. He’s amazing at the high jump, as well,” said Shawn, adding that Riley came fourth out of about 30 to 40 kids at a competition two years ago.
Both Riley and his parents praised the care they receive at BC Children’s Hospital, which gets part of its funding from Choices Lottery.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the people there,” said Nancy.
“We’re so lucky to have Children’s so close by.”
As for Riley, there doesn’t appear to be any limits to his ambitions when he gets his second frame taken off later this year.
Asked if he might one day play basketball in the NBA, he quipped, “Sure. Why not?”
To support BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, you can purchase a ticket for the Choices Lottery.
For more information and to purchase tickets go to www.bcchildren.com.
