Poor Maddie Brown, you guys.
The 24-year old mother of two has a pair of kids under the age of five — and has likely been through more with them already than most other parents around the world.
Especially when it comes to her daughter, Evie.
The one-year old was born with an extremely rare medical condition called fibular aplasia, tibial campomelia and oligosyndactyly (FATCO) syndrome.
As a result, Evie was born without all her fingers and toes, and with deformed limbs.
Late last month, Maddie revealed to social media followers that Evie underwent a Boyd amputation, which is an amputation at the ankle that helps with stabilization.
“Her surgeon laid the groundwork for her new foot and mobility it will bring,” Maddie explained on Instagram.
“Another [operation] gave her some extra mobility in her hand, by clipping her webbing she had in her right hand.”
Shortly after this serious procedure, the daughter of Janelle and Kody Brown shared footage of a beaming Evie, making it clear the toddler is an absolute trooper.
What an inspiring story, right?
And also a tragic one, of course, but it’s hard not to look at Maddie and Evie and simply smiile over the way they’re handling the cards they’ve been dealt, you know?
So one would assume, that is.
But the Internet still exists and the Internet is a terrible place and a bunch of people on the Internet have apparently taken issue with Maddie for doing what she believes to be best for her child.
Wrote Maddie yesterday online:
“‘You cut her foot off?’ ‘If she was functional, why did you amputate?’ ‘Wait, where is her foot?’ ‘Was it really necessary to cut her foot off?’
“These are all questions I have received since Evie’s Surgery.”
Maddie was far more patient in her response to these obnoxious and ignorant questions than we would have been, as she responded as follows:
“I understand the questions and at first glance, I would ask the same thing.
“Evie’s left Tibia bone, along with the bowing it had, was also about a 1/3 shorter than her right.
“When she’s little it’s not super noticeable unless closely looked at. As she grows though, we were looking at the possibility of a dramatic difference.”
Continued the reality star in detail:
“Some families and people opt for a lengthening surgery, but Miss Evie’s difference was in the grey area of if that was even possible or not.
“With at least 4 major surgeries and the possibility of having to amputate in the end, we chose a Boyd amputation.”
Incredibly, despite owing the public nothing at all, Maddie delved even deeper into this very hard decision:
“This was not a light-hearted decision, we spent the better part of the last year educating ourselves, talking to doctors, prosthetists, other families, and other amputees as we came to the decision we did.
“Before Evie, I classified amputees as one category. You amputated because there was no way of saving the limb.”
And now?
“I think that goes along with #limbdifference education. Sometimes it’s about quality of life.
“Due to this, I wanted to give a more in-depth explanation and answer all at once. I hope it will all bring awareness to a part of the #limbdifference world,” concluded Maddie.
She then turned off her Comments in order to avoid having to deal with more judgmental trolls.
And, honestly, we’re just shocked it took her so long to do so.
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