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Living and walking with hip-dysplasia: differently-abled.

So picture this… I come back from a walk only to find that my FitBit has categorised half of it as ‘outdoor cycling’ and half of it as ‘sport’. This happens to me quite often, because where walking is concerned, I’m differently-abled. I was born with severe Developmental Dysplasia of the Hips (DDH for short). In plain English that means that my hip joints didn’t form properly before I was born. I can walk but it’s not something I do with ease or speed and definitely not with grace!

I’m writing this blog to share my own journey with my funny walk – in an open, vulnerable way. Being ‘different’ has been a positive and a negative in my life. It has definitely shaped who I am. My unusual hips are not ‘who’ I am - but they are part of my story. Where I go, they go and so does their impact. In 2019 I chose to walk 100 miles of the South Downs Way – to see how far I could take my different walk – and my blog. In 2021, due to covid lockdowns, I turned my daily walks into a virtual Pennine Way to see if I could get to 268 miles in a year. And then I found out that I needed a knee replacement....

I hope you enjoy reading about it. You can also follow this blog on Facebook or Twitter by following @WalkingJill

Virtual Walking Challenge: 16 miles imagining Edale to Crowden

By Jill Pringle January 17, 2021 In virtual pennine way, Walking 0 Crowden, Edale 0

In the last week since I set my challenge, I’ve walked 16 miles. A chunk of that last weekend, smaller walks each day in the week, and the final 3 miles this morning.

Unlocking my lockdown joints with a 5K walk.

By Jill Pringle June 7, 2020 In Walking 0 5K Walk, hip dysplasia 0

This morning I just needed to get walking again. Whilst I have walked 30 minutes locally every day through lockdown, I can feel how tight my joints are and my unusual gait is more pronounced.

The Freedom to walk differently. Diff-abled on tour!

By Jill Pringle March 9, 2020March 24, 2020 In Travel, Walking 0 No tags 0

Freedom Trail Jill Pringle Hip Dysplasia

Today I walked the Freedom Trail in Boston. It’s a 2.5 mile walk that passes 16 nationally significant historic sites from meeting houses to burial grounds and a ship,

Adult DDH: walking and talking with different abilities

By Jill Pringle September 28, 2019 In hip dysplasia, Rambling, South Downs Way, Walking 0 Adult DDH, Black Cap 0

Last weekend I walked another 14.5miles, and on the first day I was joined by two friends. I was born with hip-dysplasia and it was obvious immediately that my hips weren’t normal.