Ellie Frodsham

Ellie Frodsham knows all about challenges, but she’s never let one slow her down. Whether it’s in the swimming pool or on the dance floor, the playground or her custom adaptive bike, the six-year-old from Salt Lake City is always on the move.

Ellie was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a rare orthopaedic condition that limited the growth of one of her thigh bones. Realizing Ellie would require specialized and expensive medical care for years to come, her pediatrician referred her to Shriners Hospitals for Children—Salt Lake City.

Ellie was just two weeks old when she had her first appointment at Shriners Hospital. Since then she’s had a number of surgeries, including a recent operation on her hip. Physical therapists helped her learn to walk and orthotists made custom braces and shoe lifts to support her every step––all at no cost to her family.
“We are so grateful for this wonderful hospital,” says Ellie’s mother, Jenna. “It has been a real blessing.”

Today, the happy and active first grader uses a crutch and a seven-inch shoe lift in order to walk. Her hope is to begin limb lengthening procedures at Shriners Hospital this summer. The treatment that will require complicated surgery and months of physically demanding follow-up care. It will be a long and difficult process that will have to be repeated as she grows older, but well worth it if one day Ellie can stand on two fully functioning legs.

“She’s a trooper,” Jenna explains. “She’s also a more sympathetic and caring person if someone is sick or hurt. She’s been through it all.”

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