Dione Schick's blog

Further to my post a few days ago, Emma SMS me earlier today and said 'yes I made it'. So how's that to be standing at the top of Mt Kinabalu, age 13 with PFFD and a prosthetic leg with your school mates! Yes I do know that there are a number of disabled mountain climbers with prosthesis ... but when it is your own child born that very special day not so long ago, and you've really wondered (and worried) about their lives, and the opportunities they will get (or you think they will have to fore-go when they were born), it is still pretty darn neat to hear her say 'yes I made it'.

Mt Kinabalu is the highest mountain in South East Asia and is situated in beautiful Borneo a 2.5 hour flight from Singapore.

Emma, her twin brother Zach and a group of 20+ sports leaders from Tanjong Katong Primary School in Singapore are to set off on Monday to climb the mountain. Emma has one extra bag than the other kids - a spare prosthesis in case her main one breaks.

Emma was born in 1996 and is coming up13 years old. She has a twin brother Zac. Emma has PFFD in her left leg and we found out about her condition at the first scan at 15 weeks.

Emma has had no surgeries and wears an extension prosthesis. We met often with a number of specialists during the first 6 years of her life, including Ian Torrode in Melbourne (Van Ness Rotation), Dror Paley USA (lengthening) via letters/xrays from our orthopaedic surgeon in New Zealand who had worked with Dr Paley in the US.