Patient Stories

Demi

Seven years ago our daughter, Demi, was born with hip dysplasia. The doctor felt a ‘knock’ when he did the hip test on her after she was born. They told us that she’d have to wear a harness for a few months and gave us a name of a pediatric orthopaedist in town.

The day she was born I bought People magazine from the hospital gift shop because Demi Moore was on the cover and thought it would be a good keepsake for her since they had the same name. Coincidentally, also in that issue was the story of Wyatt Whitney that enlightened us on hip dysplasia. Seven years later, Demi is what is called a “flyer” for her cheer team (she’s the one they toss in the air), she’s a gymnast and a dancer with no signs of ever having HD.

She started the first 4 months of her life with her legs tied back in a harness that covered her whole body. Back then we questioned if she would have trouble walking, but thanks to the Wyatt Whitney story (in People) and the openness of the Whitneys to tell it, that brought us to the IHDI for information and support. You’d never know but for the pictures that she had hip dysplasia. Like every cause, disease, event or call to action, all you need is awareness.

The Whitneys and the IHDI gave us that and a whole lot more. We posted three pictures. Two are of her as an infant that you can clearly see how bad her HD was and the last is her doing a SPLIT! Thank you IHDI and Wyatt Whitney!