A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD is back at school after her leg was saved from amputation by a world-renowned surgeon.

Kyra Warrell, from Westdene, Brighton, who suffers from a rare disorder called Proximal Focal Femoral Deficiency (PFFD), will be confined to a wheelchair until next week after coming through specialist treatment in Haifa, Israel, last month.

The operation at the hands of visiting American surgeon Dr Dror Paley was rearranged twice, forcing Kyra to spend her seventh birthday in the ward.

But she got a warm welcome when she finally returned to Westdene Primary School in the company of sister Mia, four.

“The first day back everyone was circling her in the playground,” said mother Rima Warrell, 39.

“It was really touching that there were so many well wishers so engaged in her story.

“Never underestimate the power of social media.”

The family raised £58,000 via JustGiving to secure the appointment with Dr Paley, which laid the groundwork for a leg-lengthening operation in the United States next summer.

Now the Step With Kyra campaign has been given charity status, meaning benefactors can supplement their donation with a Gift Aid contribution.

The target for the lengthening procedure is £95,000, with an anonymous £5,000 donation helping the family to raise eight per cent of what it needs already.

Kyra, who was visited by a clown on her birthday, has struggled with the condition since birth.

The painful prosthetic limb she had been wearing has now been replaced by a temporary cast, which will be removed next Tuesday.

After 30 staples between her hip and knee were taken out last week, she is excited by the prospect of swapping her wheelchair for a new prosthetic.

Rima said: “She’s so quick at at adapting.

“She went from completely immobile in bed to zipping around in a wheelchair in no time.

“There’s no stopping her.

“The other day she was saying ‘There’s only ten more sleeps to go’.”

Dad Neil is taking on a sponsored climb later this month to raise more money for the cause.

He and a group of friends will be scaling the equivalent of Mount Everest two-and-a-half times in the High Sports Indoor Climbing Centre at Freedom Leisure in Withdean on March 26.

You can donate to Kyra's cause at https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/just4children/stepwithkyra