Worthing boy's battle to walk (From The Argus)

Worthing boy's battle to walk

3:30pm Wednesday 19th October 2011 in News By Siobhan Ryan, Health Reporter

James O'Hagan

It is a battle that James O'Hagan’s family are desperate to win.

The five-year-old has cerebral palsy and can only manage short distances with the aid of two walking sticks or a frame.

The constant wear on his body means the youngster is likely to spend all his time in a wheelchair by the time he is a teenager.

His parents Brian and Grace have raised more than £45,000 towards the £60,000 cost of sending James to America for an operation called selective dorsal rhizotomy.

This involves cutting some of the sensory nerve fibres that come from the muscles and enter the spinal cord.

The complicated procedure reduces spasticity and it becomes easier for patients to increase strength with therapy and exercise.

Children who have received the treatment can often start types of exercise that were impossible before.

Following the treatment James will need an intensive course of physiotherapy to help develop his muscles and teach him how to walk for the first time.

This therapy should continue for up to two years following the operation, but without the necessary funds in place, his parents fear that bad habits may hinder James’s progress and prevent him achieving the level of mobility they had hoped for.

Mrs O'Hagan, 45, of Hurst Avenue, Goring, Worthing, said: “It’s heart-breaking. We are so close to giving James the opportunity of a lifetime but if we cannot afford the specialist therapy he needs after his operation then we cannot maximise his chances of walking.”

The family are being supported by children's charity Caudwell Children.

Can you help James’s family? Anyone able to help should call 01782 600114 or visit www.justgiving.com/achancetowalk.