“Hang in there my sweet”: Grant Denyer shares update on baby Sunday
Grant Denyer has shared an emotional update about his youngest daughter Sunday, accompanied by a sweet photo of her and his wife Chezzi in hospital.
“Oh my poor little bubba!” Denyer captioned the photo, shared to Instagram on Wednesday.
“I’m so sorry to see you in this state.”
In the photo, Chezzi is masked-up and holding Sunday, who has a bandaged hand and is wearing a half-body cast extending from under her arms down to her ankles, with a nappy over the top.
“Sunday had a special procedure today in hospital to fix her severe hip dysplasia,” Denyer’s post continued.
“The poor thing has to wear a half body cast for the next 12 weeks which will be so uncomfortable and immobilising for her, but will be worth it in the end.
“Hang in there my sweet, you’ve already shown us how brave and bright you are.
“Love Dad.”
Hip dysplasia is one of the most common abnormalities in newborns, meaning that the hip bone isn’t in the right place in its socket and can move around, causing the hip to not develop correctly.
If left untreated, it can cause the child to develop a ‘waddling walk’ and, as the child gets older, it can lead to osteoarthritis and other hip deformities.
But, treatments for hip dysplasia are generally quite successful, with treatment options including splints, non-surgical movement of the bone, or the use of surgery to move the bone and a hip spica - a plaster covering the child from knee to waist - to hold the hip in place.
Denyer’s update prompted a wave of well-wishes from fans and friends.
Dancing With The Stars castmate Ricki Lee posted multiple heart emojis, while Peter Helliar commented, “Love & strength to you all”, with a heart and fist-bump emoji.
“Don’t you just wish you could take the pain for them!” Fabian Coulthard added.
“Hope lil lady feels better soon!” journalist Jan Fran wrote.
“Poor baby,” V8 Supercar driver David Reynolds commented.
“Yeah it’s hard to watch mate,” Denyer replied back.
Sunday has made quite a few appearances on Denyer’s social media accounts, including frequent videos of her making funny noises or doing something cute.
In a post made a week prior to the surgical photo, Denyer explained Sunday’s condition in more detail.
“As a 1 (year old) she’s a bit of a late bloomer, but at least we now know it’s because of her recently diagnosed hip dysplasia,” Denyer captioned the post, which included a video of Sunday crawling.
“In fact it’s so severe her hip really isn’t even in its joint. She’s had a dislocated hip since birth. Which makes this even more special.
“Sunday is going in for an operation next week to correct it, then it’s 6-12 weeks in a half body plaster cast. Which will be torture for the poor thing. We’re taking away her mobility just as she’s discovered it.”
Denyer went on to describe how he found it “devastating” but knew it was necessary, as “she’ll be much more comfortable when she’s healed”.
“She’s the happiest little soul… can’t believe she’s been so bright with such a huge issue for her little body.
“Love you bubba xox.”
Image: @grantdenyer (Instagram)