Carson Lees, from Marfleet, lived with a fractured leg for a year after doctors discovered he had a rare condition leaving him prone to fractures, with his parents now fundraising for the hospital that carried out his five-hour operation
Carson Lees, 2, has Congenital Pseudarthrosis, which caused his leg to break when he was 14 months old(Image: Courtney Lees)
A two-year-old Marfleet boy is recovering from surgery after living with a broken leg for a year. Carson Lees has Congenital Pseudarthrosis (CPT), which causes weak bones that are prone to fractures.
Shortly after birth, Carson developed an unstable “false joint”, which meant it was only a matter of time before a break would happen. It was previously thought Carson had a positional birth defect that could be rectified with movement and physiotherapy. But in June 2025, his parents, Carter and Courtney, woke up to screams of pain coming from Carson’s bedroom. His leg had fractured, and after many tests and hospital visits, he was diagnosed with CPT.
Courtney said: “He would’ve been about 14 months old and we woke up and he was absolutely screaming in pain, so we ran into his bedroom. You could clearly see his leg was visibly broken. We rushed him to A&E and they didn’t really know how to deal with it. The Dr in A&E said we’ll put a cast on it. We got home and thought everything was fine, it would heal within 6 weeks. The consultant who had been seeing Carson phoned and said they’d heard Carson has been in A&E, and they think it’s what they call an impending fracture. It basically confirms that it was CPT.”
But surgery couldn’t take place until Carson turned two, and he has spent the last year in a clamshell cast that had to be changed as he grew. The limb reconstruction surgery took over five hours and, even with the surgery there’s no guarantee that Carson’s leg will heal. His mum says he is a happy little boy, and finds ways to get around, despite sometimes becoming frustrated that he can’t do what his friends at nursery can do.
Courtney said: “He had to wait for the surgery when he turned two. He had a broken leg for a year on the day of his surgery. But he is literally not bothered, he finds his little ways to get around, he bum shuffles and walks on his knees. He’s really resilient. I think he gets bored and fed up when he sees what other kids do in nursery. He’s had it since he was born and it’s all he’s ever known. It was a waiting game for a year and he had to get his clamshell updated whenever he grew out of it. Now it’s just a waiting game. It may break again, and we could try surgery again, but with that comes more risks. It could pose more risk to the leg. If we don’t choose to get the surgery again we are possibly looking at amputation. Fingers crossed it heals.”
Carson is now recovering from his surgery and enjoying taking part in fun activities, like bowling, with his family. He remains in a wheelchair until his leg has healed. During his time at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, he loved nothing more than getting a babycino, or “nino” from the hospital cafe. Courtney recalls the day he broke his leg while simply playing in his cot, saying she “knew instantly” something was seriously wrong.
She said: “It was just like you were in a different world, like it wasn’t real. You’re expecting to wake up and it’s a normal day. We woke up to him screaming, and immediately you think ‘what’s wrong?’. You could just tell straight away something wasn’t right. Usually we’d get him out and give him a cuddle, but he was laid flat in his cot and you could see how much he was in distress. The consultant told us it’s an impending break. Some children with the condition are born with it already broken. It affects people differently, sometimes it can be as they start putting weight on it. They’ve said it will do that in the future. Even if the bone graft works, he’s not going to be able to participate in active sport. It will just break again. It’s just so weak.
“We’re just trying to keep him as busy as possible. He’s not allowed to weight bear and we’ve got to keep him as still as we can. We’ve bought him all new toys that he can sit and play with, without him having to go to them. We took him bowling for the first time the other day in his wheelchair. He had his little ramp and he really enjoyed that. The hospital is so amazing, just lovely people overall who put you at ease. They try to not let you stress and worry. We wanted to do some fundraising for them.”
Courtney and Carter want to give something back to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where Carson had the surgery, and the charity British Limb Reconstruction Society. They will take part in various fundraising events this summer. More details can be found at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-carsons-congenital-pseudoarthrosis-journey
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