A fundraising campaign to help a little boy have surgery that could change his life has less than £5,000 to go.

Five-year-old Oliver Poinsignon is due to have his operation on Friday and his family and friends are pushing ahead with their efforts to hit their £52,000 target.

They are calling on businesses, individuals and supporters across Sussex to help as they head towards the finish line.


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The money will cover the cost of the operation plus the expensive equipment and follow-up physiotherapy he will need.

Fundraising events have included a sponsored walk in Slinfold last weekend, while other volunteers are planning to run the Brighton Half Marathon later this month on Oliver’s behalf.

Oliver has cerebral palsy and finds it difficult to walk, jump and run because of extremely tight and painful muscles in his legs.

This will get worse as he gets older and grows.

Relatively new The operation, called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), will help him walk more easily.

SDR is not routinely available on the NHS and, because it is so expensive and still relatively new, it will normally only be given the go-ahead following an application for funding if all other options have been explored.

Oliver, lives with his mum Julie Langmaid in Ashurst, near Steyning, and his dad Jean-Marc lives in Brighton.

Ms Langmaid said: “This week Oliver met his new physio, Gemma, who will be helping with his rehab.

“I’ve spent most of the week making sure that we've got all the equipment that he needs on order ready for when he comes home.”

The campaign for Oliver is backed by The Argus, with the paper’s charity, The Argus Appeal, donating £5,000.

The amount raised currently stands at just over £47,000 and the fundraising will continue until the target is hit.

Any money raised over the target will be donated to the Tree of Hope charity, which is helping with the fundraising campaign.

Anyone interested in making a donation can contact the campaign via Facebook SDR4Oliver or visit justgiving.com/SDR4Oliver.