Broken Arrow 14-Month-Old Learning To Walk With Prosthetic Leg

A Broken Arrow baby is overcoming obstacles after being born with two extremely rare conditions. Oscar Passoni-Torres is missing half his leg, but he's determined to walk, anyway.

At 14 months old, little Oscar is no stranger to doctors. That's because when he was one week old, he was diagnosed with two rare deformities: Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency (or PFFD) and Fibular Hemimelia.

"That basically means he has a short femur bone. He is also missing his fibula," said his mom, Kari Passoni.

PFFD occurs in about one out of 50,000 births and there's no known cause for it. But Oscar isn't in any pain, and he's not letting his little leg hold him back.

"The doctors here really couldn't help him, and it was kind of too complex for Shriner, so we went down to Florida, and they said that it is possible for them to lengthen his leg down to the ground," Passoni said.

Oscar is looking forward to different milestones in his life. Last month, he got a prosthetic leg.

"They have to come up with an individual design for each kid that has PFFD, because each case is different," Passoni said.

And just a few days ago, an anonymous donor gave more than $500 to help Oscar get a gait trainer walker.

"He hasn't been able to do too much weight bearing and he hasn't been able to trust the leg, and that will give him the support and help him learn to walk," his mom said.

Doctors say kids with PFFD have multiple options: do nothing, have surgery to lengthen the leg or use a prosthetic.

"Oscar is very fortunate," said Dr. Kevin Carroll, with Hanger Prosthetics. "He has great parents. They're doing their homework and as a result, he's going to just fly. Regardless what direction they go in, this little kid is going to do incredibly well."

Carroll works with PFFD kids around the world. He said most live a long, healthy, productive life, and Oscar's mom is confident her son will do the same.

When Oscar turns 2, his mother said he will start the process to lengthen his leg.

Follow Oscar's progress on Facebook