They are the 18.00 in the afternoon and the pleasant temperature of Bilbao allows several boys and girls to play, like every afternoon, in the park next to the Zubizuri. Aimar He arrives at the meeting place with DEIA hand in hand with his mistress sessionwho tries to keep him still. For a few months now this little one hasn’t been able to go to the swings. and he looks for anything to entertain himself, like a large stick on the ground, when faced with his mistress’s reprimands. At only 7 years old, he had to change the ball, running and mowing classes he attended, for aquatic therapy, rehabilitation and medical consultations.
Not an easy situation at an age when, precisely, everything comes down to playing, running and jumping. In September 2025, a sudden pain in Aimar’s thigh alerted Saioa. “At first we didn’t give it importance because it happened punctually, but then he started to limp and we saw that it was getting worse”he relates. Given the persistence of the pain and with worry filling his body, Saioa took Aimar to the emergency room on two occasions. “The first time they told us it was muscle overload. “They did a checkup and told us everything was fine.”account.
Despite this, the little boy’s pain did not subside and according to his mistress, “When Aimar complains it really hurts him”. On the second visit to the emergency room the results were again positive and Saioa decided to take him to a children’s physiotherapy clinic, where Aimar did not improve. “One day he came home from school limping more than necessary and I took him to the Basurto Hospital. In triage tears came to my eyes when telling the situation and that was when, after an ultrasound and another X-ray, “He was diagnosed with a rare disease, Perthes.”remember.
It was the first time that Saioa heard about this disease that It produces necrosis in the head of the femur due to lack of blood supply. “It caught us completely by surprise, we didn’t know what was going to happen. In the end they tell you not to run, not to jump and not to do impact sports, and Aimar is one of those children who sees a streetlight and climbs on it,” he points out.
A ray of light
With fear in his body from having to face an unknown situation, a family whose son had gone through the same thing was a ray of light for Saioa. “They told me their experience and told me that, although the path is not always easy, It is a temporary illness that will eventually be cured. That gave me peace of mind, because his son is fine today,” he says.
Thanks to this family Saioa knew the Association of Families with Perthes (ASFAPE), a support on the path you are now traveling. “I contacted Elena, the president of the association, and she told me about the talks, she put me in contact with other families… He conveyed calm to me and the name of Doctor Juan Carlos Abril came up again, a specialist in orthopedics and childhood traumatology who is the one who is monitoring Aimar,” he says.
Support and adaptation
Faced with news of this type, the life of a 7-year-old boy is completely disrupted. The recommendation not to jump or run also extends to schoolwhere the situation can be more complicated to manage. “We were lucky because at their school there had already been a case of Perthes, so they already knew the disease and the protocol to followsomething that helped us a lot. I sent the teacher a manual for schools that they had created in the association and she thanked me. “They have adapted the physical education classes so that the child is not left alone”point Session.
The innocence and simplicity that characterizes the little ones made Aimar receive the diagnosis positively, although not all days are good for him. “He handles it quite well, but there are times when it is complicated, on birthdays for example. You see that he cannot continue the life he led before,” laments his mistress. As for the pain, he assures that it comes in spurts. “It’s still in the first phase, so He has had days of great pain, of waking up at night. In rehabilitation they told us that they noticed a little improvement and now it seems that he is having a good time,” he says.
Saioa is moved when talking about the support received from other families and knowing that in a few years her son will be cured. However, the uncertainty is there. “There are children for whom rehabilitation is enough and others who need one or more surgeries, so I think about what will happen to Aimar”he reflects.
Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, commonly known as Perthes diseaseit is a vascular necrosis in the head of the femur caused by lack of blood supply. It is presented in boys and girls between 3 and 12 years oldbut most cases occur between 6 and 8 years old. Its incidence is higher in men (for every 4 boys, 1 girl). It is a rare disease which occurs in 1.5 out of every 10,000 minors. In the State they are diagnosed 50 new cases every year, three of them in Euskadi.
He is aware that the path can take up to 10 years. —over time the blood supply produces new osteocytes, which gradually replace the dead bone and the head of the femur begins to form again— but he knows that “it’s a matter of going step by step and being patient.”. “The important thing is that he already has a diagnosis and is being treated,” he said with relief. Today Aimar looks at the swings from the outside, but with the certainty that sooner or later he will become a child again.
