Times of India: Roomel overcomes toe surgery to make U-17 Maharashtra squad

MUMBAI: Confined to her bed at her Orlem residence this May, both feet heavily wrapped in plaster, Roomel D’Souza had her share of doubts.

The teenager, having undergone surgery to treat a deformity at the base of her big toe on both right and left foot, wondered if she would ever be able to sprint freely across a hockey field again.

Fast forward to November and Roomel isn’t just back to playing the sport she loves, she is one of only two girls from Mumbai to feature in an 18-member Maharashtra squad that will compete in the Under-17 nationals beginning in Haryana next week. Pallavi Shelar from St Elias, Khar has also made the cut.

“I was actually looking forward to this tournament a lot because it will be the last tournament I will be playing at school level,” the class 10 student of Carmel of St Joseph School, Malad, tells TOI.

It’s definitely a bright end to a year which began on a dubious note when Roomel returned from representing the U-16 MSSA side in an all-India hockey tournament in Madurai. That was when she first began to feel the effects of a condition, medically known as bilateral hallux valgus (see box). “I didn’t pay much attention because it wasn’t affecting me a lot,” says the 14-year-old. “But when I got back to playing, my feet used to swell up because of the bone growth and the skin on top of the bone would get completely red. It would start burning because of the shoe scraping against the bone.”

The discomfort left Roomel with little choice but to seek medical expertise which led her to Dr Nicholas Antao, a veteran orthopaedic at Holy Spirit hospital, Andheri. With the summer vacation still some way off, Dr Antao advised Roomel to wear a protective splint as a temporary solution.

On May 11, she would finally go under the knife. It was the two-and-a-half month period of bed rest which followed that had Roomel harbour anxiety over her hockey future. “A lot of things used to run through my mind, like what if I won’t be able to play at all after this. Maybe the recovery will extend for a month or two and I would thus have to skip my selections and school games,” she says, crediting her mother and elder sister, who also played hockey, for helping her stay positive.

With her feet finally free of the plaster at the end of July, Roomel was soon able to resume school. A few weeks later, when she felt comfortable slipping into normal shoes once again, the young midfielder began her recovery with light jogging. By the first week of September, she was back in action.

The speed of her recovery has left even Dr Antao astounded. “I knew that Roomel was different, and to my surprise, every time she came for follow up visits after surgery she would be one step ahead,” says the 60-year-old, admitting he has never treated an athlete as dedicated to recovery as Roomel in the three decades he has spent in his profession.

“I am very excited and overjoyed that she has been selected, especially when you have surgery on both feet in such a short time. Believe me, sometimes it takes as long as one year.”

What is bilateral hallux valgus?

Bilateral hallux valgus occurs when the big toes angle inward, toward your other toes. This often causes the bone at the base of your toes to stick out, making it difficult to wear shoes. Over time, your shoes may rub against these bones. This may lead to soft tissue inflammation, causing redness and pain.