“The Ottobock Running Clinic: The Three Best Days of My Life” | Jayden (15) talks about his blade adventure
An Ottobock running clinic sparked Jayden’s passion for track and field. Now he trains with the head coach of the Dutch para-athletics team and is aiming for a career in elite sports with TeamNL. How did this all come about? Jayden shares his story alongside his parents.
Jayden was born with a skeletal abnormality: his right leg was shorter than his left, and he was missing two toes. His mother, Debby, says, “His right leg never grew in line with his left. That caused increasing pain and limitations.” During his childhood, Jayden was able to compensate for much of this with a special orthopedic boot, but as he got older, it began to take its toll. For example, he developed sores on his foot that healed poorly and noticed he couldn’t do everything his peers could. Father Ilja: “If you really want to be able to do everything that any child with a healthy leg can do, then at some point you have to consider an amputation.”
A conscious choice
That decision, by the way, wasn’t made lightly. Ilja: “We could have made the decision during his first year of life, but at the time we didn’t know what technologies and options would be available in the future.” Debby adds: “We also didn’t want to make the choice for him. It’s irreversible, so we felt it was important that he be able to stand behind it himself.”
Jayden himself also recognized the limitations it imposed on him. When he was eleven, he made the decision himself, after many discussions with his parents, the orthopedist, and the physical therapist. In 2022, his foot was amputated, and he has been walking with a prosthesis ever since. Jayden: “It took some getting used to at first, but not for long. I wasn’t afraid I’d regret it either; I want to be able to do everything. For me, it’s completely normal now.”
I don't need two feet to kick your ass
The response from those around him was also positive. Ilja: “The timing was very deliberate: while he was still in elementary school. We wanted it to happen in a safe environment. Not right when he started middle school, when so much is already changing, but earlier. That way, he would have time to fully recover.”
The class was involved in the process, with a presentation explaining what was going to happen. Jayden: “My classmates’ reactions were positive, relaxed, and open.” Even now that he’s in high school, Jayden is open about it. He doesn’t hide his prosthesis; on the first day of school, he even wore shorts and a T-shirt that read ‘I don’t need two feet to kick your ass’. Ilja: “We always said: if you show that you’re okay with it, then no one can use it against you. It’s never been an issue.”
Running clinic
Jayden now uses two prosthetics: one for everyday use and one for sports. Jayden: “With my everyday prosthesis, I can basically do anything. With my sports prosthesis, I mainly do track and field and running.”
In early 2025, Debby saw a call for participants in an Ottobock running clinic. Debby: “I immediately thought: this is perfect for Jayden. He’d already had a chance to try out a blade briefly during a sports day at De Hoogstraat Orthopedietechniek in Utrecht, and he really liked it.” She signed him up, and Jayden was able to participate in the clinic for three days in July. Jayden: “I was excited about it right away. I didn’t know if I was good enough, but everyone there thought I was.” After the clinic ended, he was clear: “Those were the three best days of my life.”
Stand out with TeamNL
Joep Janssen, head coach of TeamNL’s para-athletics team, happened to be present during the running clinic. Jayden immediately caught his eye as a potential talent for the future. Ilja: “It usually takes people a long time to learn how to run on a blade. Jayden ran three laps around the track right away.” He was invited to continue training with the team.
Jayden: “That sounded like a lot of fun to me. That’s why I still train twice a week at my own track and field club, SPADO in Bergen op Zoom, and once a week in Vught, with Joep. I mainly focus on the sprint distances: 100, 200, and 400 meters. And I do strength training to get stronger and faster.”
Obstacles and perseverance
The move toward elite sports also brings practical challenges. Sports prostheses are expensive and aren’t always automatically covered by insurance. Ilja: “The Wmo application was rejected outright, with the explanation that Jayden functions well with his current prosthesis, so a sports prosthesis is desirable but not necessary. That feels unfair.” Still, they refuse to be discouraged. Jayden now has a sports prosthesis for a three-month trial period, thanks to Rijndam Orthopedietechniek in Rotterdam and Ottobock, which provided the blade free of charge for the duration of the trial. Ilja: “We want to show that he uses it frequently and can do a lot with it, so that our health insurer will cover the costs.”
For Debby, the running clinic meant more than just athletic development. Debby: “For a while, Jayden was trying to figure out what he enjoyed. Soccer wasn’t going well anymore. With the running clinic, everything came together: fun, talent, and self-confidence.” Jayden himself is cautiously looking ahead: “A career as an athlete with TeamNL sounds appealing to me. I’m curious to see how far I can go.”
