£50k raised to help Billy walk – Video

Published Thursday, 11 October 2012

The four-year-old from Comber was born with Spastic Diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, which affects his ability to walk as he could not straighten his legs.

There was no treatment available in Northern Ireland, but his parents discovered that an operation was available privately that could help his mobility- and so they created the Help Billy Walk campaign last year.

Thanks to the generosity of those who donated and helped raise the 50k, Billy received the operation in Bristol in July.

The operation, has improved things not just for Billy but for the rest of his family too.

Billy can now get about unaided and his big brother Robert is helping him learn to ride a bike, something his family never dreamed possible.

"He can walk around our kitchen, he can step up and down steps, he can get into a shopping trolley now, which before he couldn't get into a child's shopping trolley because his legs were too stiff," his mum Savien said.

He gets up out of his bed and walks into our bed in the morning which is just amazing, we never dreamt that he would be able to walk in in the morning and give us a cuddle.

Savien Douglas

She added: "He can ride his specially designed bike and he can just generally straighten his legs out more. He can wiggle his toes, he couldn't wiggle them before."

View original post here:
£50k raised to help Billy walk - Video