Brave West Bromwich schoolboy footballer made Sunday Mercury Wonderkid

Jun 20 2010 by Zoe Chamberlain, Sunday Mercury

LIKE most young boys, Ethan Barnbrook dreams of being a great footballer.

The seven-year-old loves nothing more than playing soccer with his team or with his Dad, especially during the World Cup.

Yet Ethan suffers from a rare hereditary condition called multiple exostosis which causes painful lumps to grow from his bones and joints – restricting his movements.

He was diagnosed at the age of two when mum Stephanie, from West Bromwich, spotted the bony spurs on his knee and ankle.

His auntie Karen Salmon, 38, recalled: “Our first worry was that it might be cancer.

“It took a long time for the diagnosis to come through but it turned out to be hard lumps of bone under the skin.

“What makes Ethan’s condition more unusual is that all his joints are riddled with them, whereas this condition normally only affects the lower body.

“You wouldn’t notice to look at him but they do restrict his movement.”

Yet despite his problems Ethan is a keen and talented footballer and plays for Brandhall Colts, where his supermarket worker dad Stuart is team coach.

Karen, from Great Bridge, says: “He’s obsessed with football and sometimes gets frustrated that he can’t run as fast as the rest of the team – but he still scores a fair few goals.

“Ethan played for his school for the first time last week and scored a great goal, so he was really made up with that.’’

Brave Ethan went for his first major operation aged just five after the growths began to impinge on his walking.