Vancouver Whitecaps FC is honoured to have Riley McCluskey as Kid Captain of the club's home match at Providence Park in Portland against Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
Thirteen-year-old Riley was born with his right leg and foot turned in. What was thought originally to be Clubfoot was later diagnosed as Fibular Hemimelia, a condition where his right leg grows at a slower rate and causes a limb length discrepancy.
Under the care of Dr. Anthony Cooper and his team at BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH), Riley has undergone several surgeries to treat his condition. For his first surgery at age seven, Riley became the first BCCH patient to be lengthened with a Taylor Spatial Frame, a device that has two large rings, which encircle a child’s limb, connected by six minutely adjustable rods that can be lengthened and shortened to reposition bones.