Little Jack takes first steps towards new life after US operation

8 Oct 2013 07:00

Month-long treatment helps four-year-old with cerebral palsy walk for the first time

A young boy with cerebral palsy who was unable to walk has made his first steps thanks to an operation in America.

Four-year-old Jack Ostler from Woking spent just under a month with his family in St Louis, Missouri, after more than 30,000 was raised for the operation.

Now he is back home and has started school, making new friends along the way.

Jack, who lives with his parents Sarah and Simon and little brother Max in Woking, was born eight weeks early and suffered oxygen starvation at birth, resulting in cerebral palsy.

He found it tough to use his arms, hands and legs and could not walk properly or sit up without help.

The operation he underwent at St Louis Childrens Hospital is known as a selective dorsal rhizotomy.

It included removing nerve connections from his muscles to his spinal cord, causing the stiffness in his legs.

After the successful operation, Jack underwent an hours physiotherapy every day for three weeks, with his family supporting him along the way.

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Little Jack takes first steps towards new life after US operation