Listen again to the broadcast.
Nine-year-old Jodie Welsh was born with a rare condition affecting her left leg. She endured endless hospital visits and had to wear a prosthesis and splints. Her condition deteriorated and last summer doctors decided to amputate Jodie’s leg from below the knee.
“The only reason I’m bouncing around is you have to really. You have to be happy really. I’m never sad unless my mum’s told me to do something I don’t want to do.”
Jodie - sparky, intelligent, innocent - recalls the day she woke up from the operation, looked under the covers and found her leg gone, to be replaced by a prosthesis.
“I give all my legs names. The last name for my swimming leg was Jasmine. And this one’s Rebecca.”
She takes us through a year spent in and out of hospital, when the class register marked her absence 70 times. Jodie recalls the sounds and sights that still echo in her head from that time.
And she talks about her plans for the future.
“I’ve got everything planned for my wedding. The napkins will be white and gold, to go with the bridesmaids. I know who I’m going to invite. I’m just worried that no one will like me because of my disability.”
When adults recall their months - or years - in a sickbed, they talk of times that changed them profoundly.
