Skyler Ermler will have a partial amputation after doctors found aggressive osteosarcoma on leg

A brave nine-year-old girl will have her leg amputated after a fall at after-school care led to a shocking diagnosis.

Skyler Ermler, 9, will undergo a partial leg amputation. Picture: Liam Kidston

A brave nine-year-old girl will have her leg amputated after a fall at after-school care led to a shocking diagnosis.

Shelley Ermler says Skyler came home with a limp after the fall and when it was still there a day later she and her husband, Jason, decided to get an X-ray just to make sure nothing was broken.

Mr Ermler took Skyler to the Prince Charles Hospital on Brisbane’s northside and from there things “went from zero to a thousand very quickly”.

“Jason rang me and said ‘I don’t know what’s going on, they aren’t telling me what’s wrong with her, but they’ve got the scans back’,” Mrs Ermler said.

Skyler was diagnosed after a fall at after-school care. Picture: Liam Kidston

“That was pretty much it. I dropped everything at work and ran out the door, you’re already thinking the worst.”

When she arrived at the hospital she was led into a room with seven medical professionals and the family was told an aggressive osteosarcoma was growing in Skyler’s right leg.

“That’s when they said they’d found a significantly large lesion in a right thigh bone,” she said.

Skyler’s leg was placed straight into a brace, not because she needed to restrict joint movement, but to remind her she wasn’t allowed to walk on it.

Mrs Ermler said if they had not got the X-rays done, the osteosarcoma would have continued growing unnoticed.

“We wouldn’t have known at all,” she said.

Skyler has since undergone chemotherapy and will have rotationplasty in coming months.

“They’re basically going to cut her bottom half of her leg off under the knee,” Mrs Ermler said.

“Then they’ll cut the section above the tumour, like halfway down her thigh, completely remove that middle section of her leg. Then the bottom half, like your foot section with your shin, that then gets connected back onto your leg. But your foot will be facing backwards.”

Skyler with mum and dad Michelle and Jason, and brother Max. Picture: Liam Kidston

The operation will allow Skyler to be fitted with a prosthetic and her foot will become her new knee.

“In terms of her having the most mobility and that kind of thing, it’s so much better option than the above-knee amputation. She’s not losing the movement of having a knee,” Mrs Ermler said.

Skyler remains optimistic about her future but Mrs Ermler admits her daughter is still somewhat in denial about the surgery.

“Even just losing your hair, for a nine-year-old it’s a huge part of her identity, you know, being taken immediately within two weeks,” she said.

“This is completely different, like, it’s a change that’s not going to grow back.

“For her, just not being able to go in the swimming pool is probably the worst kind of punishment imaginable, yet she still keeps a smile on her face and keeps going.

“I can’t even explain it. She’s just so resilient.”

Skyler during a visit to the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

During her time at the Queensland Children’s Hospital Skyler has met other children who have undergone the same procedure.

“I think that is one thing that the QCH does really well is, you know, allowing families going through similar things to connect so that you don’t feel so isolated and alone while you’re trying to get through it,” Mrs Ermler said.

“We met one boy who was in visiting the orthopaedic team just for his annual check-up on his prosthetic again. Same cancer, same surgery.”

Mrs Ermler said this experience had helped them decide that the rotationplasty was right for Skyler.

“After going through the process with all of that, having support from the teams there (at the QCH), I guess that’s how we come to this decision for us,” she said.

“She needs to have all the same opportunities and things that other kids can.

“Once we get her a little bit more on board with the surgery, I think she’ll do remarkable in recovery.”

You can support Skyler and her family via their GoFundMe.

Originally published as Skyler Ermler will have a partial amputation after doctors found aggressive osteosarcoma on leg