31-year-old Astrakhan woman Valentina Stadnik was born with an underdeveloped lower leg and without a foot.
But her dream is about to come true: thanks to a special prosthesis, the girl will be able to participate in Caspian Fashion Week as a model. Valentina has long been a celebrity in her native Astrakhan: from the age of 2 she uses a prosthesis, but many do not even realize that the missing part of her left leg is replaced by a special device due to a congenital anomaly. Stadnik is engaged in educational work, runs a blog with the ironic name Calfshin (calf’s Shin — approx. Woman.ru) and even a salsa dancer.
All her life, Valentina struggles with passion and knowledge to create the perfect foot prosthesis.
In 2017, specialists of the St. Petersburg innovative prosthetic and orthopedic center ” Skoliologik.ru ” created a fairly comfortable prosthesis for her, which allowed her to wear shoes with heels up to 5 cm.
But Valentina did not stop there: she convinced the center to experiment and agreed to become a test driver of an innovative device that has no analogues.
In it, the usual sleeve is replaced by a silicone liner, and the foot has an individual shell-an exact copy of a healthy leg.
The girl has always wanted to go on the runway as a model, and now she has this opportunity — a new prosthesis allows you to walk with comfort and grace on very high heels.
The organizers of the “Caspian fashion Week”, which will be held in Astrakhan on September 12-13, invited Valentina to participate in the fashion show.
“Vali has a knee joint, a lower leg, and a vestigial foot. The shape of its stump is Mace-shaped, has an extension at the end, which greatly complicates prosthetics. Her shin is long and thin, so it was necessary not only to observe proportions, but to recreate the volume for symmetry – said the Creator of the prosthesis Anton Kruglov.
“The cosmetic cover, a mirror image of her healthy foot, was made so that Valya could wear shoes in an open heel. Our foot is light, carbon-based and gives a good energy return. It allows you to adapt to uneven surfaces. Now the foot is undergoing international certification.”
Valentina has already got used to the miracle prosthesis. The girl admits that she is very happy and looks forward to going to the podium. We sincerely wish her good luck!
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