Boy who had clubfeet
suffers setback

Question: What ever happened to 12-year-old Jude Dosmanos of the Philippines, who had an operation last year at the Shriners Hospital for Children to fix his severe clubfeet?

Answer: Dosmanos is walking in shoes -- his dream when he came here -- but still is wearing braces, said state Rep. Dennis Arakaki (D, Kamehameha Heights-Kalihi Valley), who saw Jude in Manila July 26.

"He always had a cheerful outlook, and that hasn't changed," Arakaki said. However, the boy had fallen and sustained a hairline fracture in his left foot, he said.

Jude had walked on the sides of his clubfeet until Dr. Ellen Raney, Shriners orthopedic surgeon, reshaped the bones in his feet and straightened his legs.

He was discharged from Shriners on Oct. 20 and continued outpatient visits through Jan. 5.

Arakaki visited the boy in the hospital and kept in touch with him by telephone after he returned to his parents and eight siblings.

He said Jude became sick and had a fever about a month before injuring his foot, and there was a question whether there was a connection.

"When I saw him, he was OK," added Arakaki, who visited the boy during a mission to the Philippines with members of Kalihi Union Church.

He said Jude's family had been trying to get him back here when he got hurt and had sent him to Manila to live with an older brother "to make things easier."

STAR-BULLETIN / NOVEMBER 2003 Jude Dosmanos was brought to Hawaii from the Philippines in May 2003 for surgery at Shriners for his clubfeet. He is shown here recovering.

Arakaki said he has been trying to find out if Jude should be brought back here for rehabilitation or therapeutic services. "He doesn't seem to be making much progress. He is not going to school. But he seems very bright and his attitude is really good."

Arakaki said he brought Jude's X-rays to Shriners and is waiting for an evaluation, as well as to see whether Shriners would cover the cost of outpatient services.

"One positive thing: One of our church families is in the military, and they're willing to keep him long term," Arakaki said.

Shriners spokesman Duke Gonsalves said the hospital has asked for Jude's medical records so Raney can determine if it is medically necessary for him to return here.

Meanwhile, Arakaki said the Aloha Medical Mission and his church mission are waiting for a medical assessment of another child they hope to bring here from Camiguin province for surgery on clubfeet.

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