Avery’s Story

“Avery was born and in the NICU at Tampa General Hospital, where she stayed for a month. Her nurses described her as vivacious, feisty, lively and social. Three years later, her personality has not changed a bit. Avery was born with several medical issues: a cleft in her temporal bone, a corneal cyst on her right eye, congenital scoliosis, torticollis, mild hearing loss… just to name a few. She has had 7 surgeries to date. Avery’s torticollis, along with the cleft in her temporal bone, caused Avery’s skull to become misshapen. Above her right eye, her forehead protruded significantly.. that was evident from birth. The torticollis forced Avery to sleep with her head to one side, flattening one side of the back of her head. This brought us to Westcoast Brace & Limb for a cranial remolding orthosis. The staff there was wonderful to work with and helped us throughout the entire process. Several years later, Avery’s new physical therapist noticed that Avery was ‘knockkneed’. She told us that we needed to put her in foot orthotics. This brought us back to Westcoast Brace & Limb. What a great and easy experience it was. A Westcoast Brace & Limb orthotist came out to our home to get her fitted for her braces, and she got to pick out her the design pattern for them. She chose bumblebees. We didn’t go anywhere without her wearing her “bees”. What an improvement we have seen. My husband and I have been very impressed with Westcoast Brace and Limb and their staff!”

—Elizabeth Pento, Mother