'We rescued our girl from a grim life'

Ben and Kate Griffiths, from Mold, Wales, tell new how their mission to adopt saved Winnie-Rose from threats of sex-trafficking and death

- JANET TANSLEY

Sitting on the garden steps, WinnieRose Griffiths twists and squeals with laughter as her mischievous brother Luca tickles her under her chin, and the formal family photo they'd been posing for has to wait a few moments.

It's a tender insight into the life the five-year-old has come to enjoy - which is very different from the one this little girl, dressed in a blue smock and giant hair bow, was destined for.

Disabled and left in a rundown orphanage in her native Armenia, Winnie-Rose would most likely have ended up a prostitute.

"We knew what life looked like for her, particularly as a disabled child in a country where disability is not well understood," says dad Ben, 37.

"When a child ends up in an Eastern European orphanage, they tend not to come out. Winnie would have ended up as a prostitute, trafficked for sex... or dead because of neglect."

It was the love and determination of Ben and wife Kate, 35, who spent five months pursuing her adoption, that rescued Winnie-Rose from that fate.

A BRAVE GIRL FROM ARMENIA

And now, an operation performed for the first-time at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, has given her the hope of doing everything Luca, nine, and brother Wolfie, one, can do.

Winnie-Rose was born with Proximal Focal Femoral Deficiency (PFFD), a complex and rare birth defect in which the upper part of the thigh is malformed or missing, meaning one leg is a lot shorter than the other.

Without surgery, children become wheelchair dependent. Treatment often includes amputating the foot or part of the leg, which then requires a prosthesis.

Orthopaedic surgeon Leroy James led an operation in February to rotate Winnie-Rose's foot and ankle joint 180-degrees so it became her new "knee" joint, allowing a prosthesis below the knee. This was to save the limb and give her better function and comfort and ultimately quality of life.