Ten-year-old Queenslander with achondroplasia to represent Australia at World Dwarf Games

Ten-year-old Marisela Hebson used to regularly fall over and suffer frequent bouts of pain due to having severely bowed legs.

But after a series of leg-straightening operations, the Year 5 student, who has achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, has found a talent – and enormous joy — in playing sport.

Marisela, nicknamed Zels, represents Logan’s Calvary Christian College in interschool soccer as an attacker.

She’s a keen swimmer and surfer, frequently visiting Stradbroke Island with her sports-loving family, including mum Marissa, dad David and eight-year-old twin brothers Leo and Lachy.

It wasn’t until Zels finished second against other students at her school’s swimming carnival last year in a freestyle event that her parents realised her skill in the pool and enrolled her in the Sue Aitken Swim School near their home at Thornlands, in the Redlands.

“We always wanted to put her into swimming because that’s the best exercise for her body. It’s low impact but good for her,” Mrs Hebson said.

“We’d been meaning to do it and that was the push. My husband said, ‘That’s it. Put her in the squad.’

Zels has been swimming in the surf since she was four years old, but leg-straightening surgery at the Mater Children’s Private Hospital in Brisbane has allowed her to play soccer for her school, which celebrates her sporting ability.

“They trust me to play the same as everyone else and keep up with them too,” Zels said.

A ‘simple’ surgery with a ‘profound effect’

In September 2016, orthopaedic surgeon Ivan Astori placed four tiny metal plates – each about the size of a paper clip – on the outside of Zels’ tibia and femur bones in both legs.

Using screws, Dr Astori attached the Meccano-set like stainless steel pieces over her growth plates at the knee in an operation known medically as hemi-epiphysiodesis.

Also called guided growth surgery, the procedure slows the growth of the outside of her legs, while the insides of the bones continue growing normally, straightening the legs over time.

In mid-2019, Dr Astori performed more surgery to realign her tibias at the ankles.

He cut the tibias right through – a procedure known as an osteotomy — and re-joined them with plates and screws to straighten Zels’ shin bones at the ankle end.

“Without the surgeries she would have struggled with pain and her disability would have worsened,” he said.

“The surgery itself is relatively simple, but it’s had a profound effect.”

About a year after that surgery, the Hebsons sent Dr Astori a photo of Zels on a board surfing.

“That sort of thing is amazing to see,” he said.

“It brings a lot of joy to me, to know that a patient that I’ve been involved with has had that sort of functional improvement.

“She’s a lovely girl and she’s obviously overcome a lot.”

With straightened, pain-free legs and encouragement from Calvary Christian College, Zels has gone from falling over “all the time” to excelling in sport.

“Her surgery was the best decision we ever made,” Mrs Hebson said.

“The pain just eased.”

Zels will compete in the eight-day World Dwarf Games from July 28 at the German Sport University in Cologne, representing Australia in swimming, soccer, athletics, and basketball.

“I can’t wait to find out if I am actually pretty good, because I expect to lose usually,” Zels said.

“But this time who knows? Maybe I will get a place. I want to make lots of new friends the same as me too. Having fun is … most important.”

Paralympic dreams

Already she is thinking about the possibility of competing in the Paralympics one day, having watched retired British gold medal-winning swimmer Ellie Simmonds, who also has achondroplasia, on YouTube.

“I thought it was so cool,” Zels said. “I would love to do that.”

She also enjoys playing rugby in the backyard and tackling her brothers and best friend Isla.

“But sometimes Mum gets mad and tells me to stop,” the schoolgirl said.

The Hebsons hope that by telling Zels’ story it will raise much-needed awareness about achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism that occurs in about one in 25,000 newborns and is caused by a mutation in the FGFR3 gene.

When a paediatrician diagnosed Zels with dwarfism at about 10 weeks of age, Mrs Hebson said the news “hit like an arrow”.

“I remember just standing up and walking out,” she recalled.

“I was just in shock. I wasn’t expecting it. A couple of days later I rang the clinic back and apologised.