A little girl who needed a feeding tube until she was five-and-a-half years old has won a karate medal after taking up the sport just last year.
Emily Norris, now seven, was born with a condition so rare that only 13 people in the world have it and it doesn’t even have a name.
The youngster had a lung malformation that was spotted when mum Nicol was 20 weeks pregnant.
The 31-year-old, from Norwich, said her daughter has a ‘miswritten’ gene that can control a number of things in the body and is most likely to have caused her lung and kidney issues.
Common factors with other cases are small stature, failure to grow and low weight gain – meaning Emily needed a feeding tube for her first few years.
Emily’s right lung was made up of cysts due to a condition called congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation, and 70% of it was removed before her first birthday.
Doctors then discovered she had a multicystic dysplastic kidney which was removed when she was three.
Doctors even asked the mum if she would consider an abortion before Emily was born as they said the baby may not have been able to breathe.
Nicol said no and is proud of her little girl beating the odds. Despite all her issues, Emily was proved to be a fighter.
She even took up karate and has now won a bronze medal in the martial art.
Mum Nicol explained: ‘Doctors didn’t have the chance to influence our decision because as soon as they mentioned abortion we shot it down, as it was not something we’d ever consider.
‘And thank god we didn’t, as she’s doing really well now.
‘The one thing everyone always says about Emily at school and at karate and everywhere else she goes is she’s just always upbeat and always full of life.
‘I don’t know where her energy comes from considering her start in life, because she never sits down or stops.’
Emily trains three times a week at Traditional Karate Fitness in Norwich and loves it.
She joined the club as a full member in July last year and has achieved her red belt after two gradings.
Her karate instructor, Sensei Jake Pointer said: “Emily is always hard-working and is doing fantastically well in her weekly training sessions.
‘Although we know Emily finds some things more difficult than others, she never complains or gives up.’
Emily had her lung operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, and her mother was able to be at her bedside due to the support of The Sick Children’s Trust, who provided free accommodation.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/08/little-girl-who-is-one-of-only-13-people-in-the-world-with-rare-condition-wins-karate-medal-12021184/
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