All About Clubfoot - Kristi Yamaguchi's Story Kristi Yamaguchi was born with clubfoot. Little did her family know she would overcome it, become famous, and become an Olympian. “Skating brought out a side of Kristi that I didn’t think she had in her,”said Kristi’s mom (Savage 61).
First off, clubfoot is a deformity where the foot or feet are twisted out of shape or position (Alexander 290). Drugs, smoking, disease, and an infection during the pregnancy, and most of the time, heredity, can cause clubfoot (293). It is usually diagnosed during the newborn examination and sometimes can be diagnosed before the birth of the child. Some doctors recommend x-rays of the foot to see if the bones are abnormally shaped (291). Clubfoot is one of the most common birth defects. About 5,000 babies born in the United States are affected with it each year, and fifty percent of cases both of the feet are affected. Also, boys are affected more severely twice as often as girls (290). Treatments of clubfoot …show more content…
Kristi Yamaguchi was born on June 12, 1971 in Fremont, California with clubfeet. Her toes were pointed inward, and to fix her clubfeet, she had a series of casts that she had changed every two weeks for a whole year. These special casts were very heavy and awkward. After Kristi was done with the casts, she wore corrective shoes for four years and had to learn to walk in them (Savage 11). When she was younger, at age four, she practiced ballet, tap, and did tumbling. This led her into wanting to ice skate (Savage 13). She had obstacles growing up, one time at the mall there was an ice skating show and she was fascinated (12). She begged her mom to let her skate, but her mom said she had to wait until she was in first grade. When the time finally came, she told her mom that she had promised her. (13) A few weeks later she joined the junior skating club. She liked it very much, and she begged her parents for lessons, and began twice a week
First off, clubfoot is a deformity where the foot or feet are twisted out of shape or position (Alexander 290). Drugs, smoking, disease, and an infection during the pregnancy, and most of the time, heredity, can cause clubfoot (293). It is usually diagnosed during the newborn examination and sometimes can be diagnosed before the birth of the child. Some doctors recommend x-rays of the foot to see if the bones are abnormally shaped (291). Clubfoot is one of the most common birth defects. About 5,000 babies born in the United States are affected with it each year, and fifty percent of cases both of the feet are affected. Also, boys are affected more severely twice as often as girls (290). Treatments of clubfoot …show more content…
Kristi Yamaguchi was born on June 12, 1971 in Fremont, California with clubfeet. Her toes were pointed inward, and to fix her clubfeet, she had a series of casts that she had changed every two weeks for a whole year. These special casts were very heavy and awkward. After Kristi was done with the casts, she wore corrective shoes for four years and had to learn to walk in them (Savage 11). When she was younger, at age four, she practiced ballet, tap, and did tumbling. This led her into wanting to ice skate (Savage 13). She had obstacles growing up, one time at the mall there was an ice skating show and she was fascinated (12). She begged her mom to let her skate, but her mom said she had to wait until she was in first grade. When the time finally came, she told her mom that she had promised her. (13) A few weeks later she joined the junior skating club. She liked it very much, and she begged her parents for lessons, and began twice a week