Racquel was told to consider ending her pregnancy. Now her three-month-old faces a $1.5million treatment journey on the other side of the world

详细摘要

The parents of a three-month-old baby girl born with a rare and complex condition have described the agonising wait for test results during pregnancy.

Published: 07:34 GMT, 15 November 2026 | Updated: 07:34 GMT, 15 November 2026

A Melbourne mother who was advised to consider ending her pregnancy has been told by a US surgeon that her baby girl could one day walk, run and play sport after a series of operations expected to cost $1.5 million.

Three-month-old Daisy was born with two rare and complex conditions, proximal femoral focal deficiency and fibular hemimelia.

Daisy's right leg is shorter than her left as her fibular, the smaller bone in the lower leg, is missing and her femur, the bone in her thigh, is severely underdeveloped. Her hip, knee and ankle joints also did not form properly.

The surgeon plans to rebuild those joints and lengthen Daisy's leg to help her walk independently.

The first operation, a 12-hour procedure planned for when she is two, is expected to cost $548,000 alone.

Daisy's mother, Racquel Ferraro, told the Daily Mail she and her partner first learnt something was wrong at her 21-week ultrasound.

The scan showed Daisy's thigh bone was four weeks behind in development but Ms Ferraro was hopeful the bone would 'catch up'.

'As soon as I answered the phone, the doctor was like, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... this is serious." He just didn't know what to say,' Ms Ferraro said.

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