Katja Snoeijs: Everton forward’s unusual childhood with hole in her heart and one leg longer than the other

Apart from a few nagging hip injuries, Snoeijs is now healthy and his heart is examined every few years.

Having two legs of different lengths can be expected to cause problems for someone training to become a professional football player.

But Snoeijs never felt constrained and is only now realizing what an extraordinary case he is.

“You don’t like hospital visits when you’re a kid, but this wasn’t the worst thing. So I just showed up and got checked. My parents turned it into something fun,” he said.

“I really hated special shoes. I felt a little stupid and wanted to just wear Nike shoes or something, but I couldn’t.

“When I became a teenager and the height difference disappeared, I bought a lot of shoes. I became obsessed with shoes, and maybe still am.

“But in general I didn’t have any problems in sports. My father always said that I was better at turning in one direction because I was shorter. I wasn’t very aware of it as a child and I didn’t have too many difficult times.”

Snoeijs played with normal cleats and “kept at it”, but as he got older he noticed small differences.

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

“My doctor used to say my right leg was a ‘normal leg,’ so my left leg was extremely strong and was more than compensating.

“I’ve worked hard with different strength and conditioning coaches to make my right leg stronger, but it’s hard to catch up with the left leg, which is stronger than it should be.”

Hip problems have affected Snoeijs’ football career and he wonders whether this was due to a childhood leg problem.

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

“I’ve gotten so used to walking or doing things a certain way that even if I don’t feel it or realize I’m doing it, it may have caused problems elsewhere.”