A mum and dad made the agonising decision to let doctors amputate her son's toes - so he could finally take his first steps.<br /><br />Brodie Arbon-Davis, one, was born with the PIK3CA mutation - a rare condition which causes blood vessel and lymphatic malformation on the bottom half of his body.<br /><br />It means his feet were filled with fluid, his blood vessels were malformed and scans showed he only had two functioning toes on each foot.<br /><br />It left him in agony - and doctors told his mum, Holly-Louise Mackie, 26, that the tot would never walk unaided or wear shoes. <br /><br />But she took a chance and in November last year, Brodie had surgery to amputate his toes in the hope it would reduce pain, thus allow him to walk.<br /><br />He tried to walk just hours after the op - and it was a huge success. <br /><br />Now, despite the odds, Brodie is walking unaided and has started nursery.<br /><br />Holly-Louise, a full-time mum, from Dover, Kent, said: “Brodie was born this way - and it’s a blessing in disguise. <br /><br />"He can’t do the stuff other kids are doing - but he’s thriving anyway.<br /><br />“He’s a strong little fighter.<br /><br />"We always knew some type of surgery like this would happen.<br /><br />"The day after his operation he was trying to walk around. His mobility is a lot better than it was and he isn't in pain anymore."<br /><br />Brodie was born nine weeks prematurely, weighing 5lbs 4oz, on November 26, 2021, after Holly-Louise says she “coughed one day” and her “waters just broke”. <br /><br />There were no pre-birth worries, and Holly-Louise and partner, Liam Arbon-Davis, 27, a builder, believed Brodie's premature birth would just make him “short”. <br /><br />But as soon as Brodie was delivered, his parents could see there was something wrong. <br /><br />She said: “His legs were ridiculously swollen and purple when he was born - at first, I thought it was a port wine stain.<br /><br />“He had to go through so many tests within the first month - no-one knew what was wrong with him. <br /><br />“He had bloods, and they did ultrasounds on his kidneys and a skin biopsy. That was when they found the mutation.<br /><br />“The PIK3CA mutation is basically a malformation in the blood vessels - affecting the lower half of his body.<br /><br />“It wasn’t hereditary - neither myself or my partner carried it. It’s what they call a mosaic anomaly - just a freak accident, basically. <br /><br />“It was heart-wrenching - but I loved him to pieces as soon as I first saw him.<br /><br />“He spent a month in the NICU - and doctors found he had deformities on each foot, a build-up of fluid in both legs, cysts on his kidneys and a bone marrow thickening from the waist down.<br /><br />“His legs are in the 0.4th percentile - which means his bone quality is very low. He’ll never be able to walk unaided.” <br /><br />Brodie was allowed home from the NICU on December 23, 2021. <br /><br />He was in pain - especially at night - and because Calpol “wouldn't touch it” he had to take oramorph, a type of liquid morphine.<br /><br />In November 2023, Brodie had his toes amputated at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.
