Enzo Gets Back in the Game

Enzo was born with bilateral fibular hemimelia, a rare birth defect where part of, or a patient's whole fibula in the leg, is missing.

He became a patient when he was 10 months old after his family learned that Shriners Children's was able to offer below-the-knee amputation and a prosthesis to help Enzo improve his functional abilities.

Growing up with a prosthetic leg has not stopped Enzo, now 18, from doing anything that he loves. Whether this is through sports, video games, or playing with his two brothers, he has remained active and unstoppable. Within the past few years, he has grown to love the sport of basketball.

When he isn't coaching his younger brother's basketball team, or playing video games, he usually can be found playing a game of pickup basketball with his friends.

With traditional prosthetic feet, it can be challenging to play a sport, as they lack rotational and multi-axial movement, which ultimately places a lot of stress on the residual limb and knee joint. To improve his performance and comfort level while playing, Enzo was recently fit to receive a state-of-the-art high-activity foot with a torsion adapter. This was made possible thanks to the Timothy J. Piazza Foundation.

The Timothy J. Piazza Foundation was founded after Jim and Evelyn Piazza's son Tim tragically passed away in February 2017. They created the Timothy J. Piazza Memorial Foundation in his honor.

As stated on the foundation's website: "In order to fulfill Tim's life and career goals, and to give life to his legacy, his family and friends have established a foundation in Tim's memory to help others who are in need. The Timothy J. Piazza Memorial Foundation provides support to those who are in need of prosthetic devices."