Hole in her heart & longer left leg – Snoeijs’ unusual birth

Born in Amsterdam with a hole in her heart and a leg that grew to be six centimetres longer than the other, Katja Snoeijs did not live an ordinary childhood.

Snoeijs, now a striker with Women’s Super League side Everton, underwent major heart surgery when she was three years old and had an operation at the age of 12 on her longer left leg.

She previously had little option but to wear special shoes, designed for her by a podiatrist, which gave her right leg a bigger platform.

This gave way to a “shoe obsession” once Snoeijs’ surgery produced positive results and she was able to buy high-street footwear.

Doctors never found out why her left leg grew quicker than the other, despite Snoeijs having lots of medical checks.

“When I was born, I came out with my legs first rather than my head so that was pretty complicated,” Snoeijs told BBC Sport.

This is known as a breech birth and is rare.

“When I was three, they closed my heart up, and as I grew older the difference in leg length grew bigger.

“Because the difference was getting so much bigger, I had to get special shoes. On the right side they cut the heel and put extra material in it so I could walk equally.

“They measured when I could have surgery – when my left leg stopped growing and my right leg could grow equally – and when I was 12 I had that surgery.”

Snoeijs, who is now 29 and an experienced Netherlands international, can speak matter-of-factly about what for many would be a trepidatious hospital visit.

“They broke my growing bones from the knee. Luckily my right leg did grow equally and now it’s only a couple of millimetres’ difference. I can still tell there is a difference!” she said.

Snoeijs is healthy now, aside from a few niggling hip injuries, and her heart is screened every few years.

Having two legs of different lengths might be expected to cause an issue for someone training to become a professional footballer.

Yet Snoeijs never felt restricted and only now realises what an unusual case she was.

“As a kid you don’t like the hospital visits, but it wasn’t the worst thing. I just sort of showed up and got checked. My parents turned it into a fun thing to do,” she said.

“I really hated the special shoes. I felt a bit stupid and just wanted to wear the Nike shoes or whatever and I couldn’t.

“As soon as I was a teenager and the difference in length was gone, I bought loads of shoes. I got a shoe obsession and maybe still have it.

“Overall in sport, though, I had no issues. My dad always used to say I was better at turning one way because it was shorter. As a kid, I was just not aware of it too much and I didn’t experience many hard times.”

Snoeijs played with normal football boots and “just got on with it”, only noticing slight differences when she got older.

“My right foot is my prominent kicking foot, but in terms of power there is a big difference between the left leg and the right when I’m in the gym,” she said.

“My doctor used to say my right leg was my ‘normal leg’ so my left leg was overly strong and over-compensating.

“I’ve worked a lot with different strength and conditioning coaches to try to get the right leg stronger, but it’s hard to catch up with the left leg that is stronger than it’s supposed to be.”

Hip problems have affected Snoeijs in her football career and she wonders if this has roots in her childhood leg issue.

“We don’t know if they are related, but they might be,” she said.

Snoeijs, who has won 38 caps for the Netherlands, joined Everton from Bordeaux in 2022 after a two-season spell in France.

She is part of the Everton family now and had to move the time of her BBC Sport interview because she is involved in a book club with team-mates.

“We all send in a book, then we vote between them on which one we want to read. Most of the time it’s been a lot of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels,” said Snoeijs.

“We read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo last season. It’s a romance. I suggested The Da Vinci Code but not a lot of people wanted to join in on that one!

Snoeijs also enjoys trips to Sefton Park to practise her new-found interest in photography and does jigsaw puzzles when she’s at home.

“Liverpool is a really nice city so I like to take photos of the buildings and the scenic views,” said Snoeijs.

“I’m only a beginner and I’m trying to get into manual settings a little bit more. It’s popular among footballers.

“In the Netherlands we have a TV show called ‘Het Perfecte Plaatje’ [which translates to ‘The Perfect Picture’].

“It’s about famous people who are given an assignment and they have to get the best picture. We try to do that with the national team, but it’s like the book club – it was nice for a few weeks then everyone got distracted!”

Such is the life of a modern player, hopping from one hobby to another while away from the day job.