Campaign launched at Bristol City match to get Whitchurch boy walking

Oskar Pycroft needs complex surgery in the US, if he is ever to walk again

Football-mad Oskar Pycroftis just like many six-year-old boys. He loves sport, ispositive and cheerful, and never misses a home match of his favourite football team, Bristol City.

But Oskar, from Whitchurch, suffers fromsevere cerebral palsy,and is unable to sit, stand or walk independently. He is in constant pain with his muscles and joints.

A campaign has been launched to raise money to pay for complex medical treatment, which is unavailable on the NHS.

His family need 70,000 to fund it, and to start the campaign, Oskar led the Bristol City team out at their match today (Saturday) against Preston North End.

His mother, Lizzie, told the BBC: "He is a wonderful child, very happy in a lot of respects, but when you see a child in pain all the time, it's gut-wrenching as there is nothing you can do physically to take it away.

"You can give him medicine or massage his legs but it does not take away the pain."

The operation he need is calledelective dorsal rhyzotomy (SDR) locates the malfunctioning nerves and cuts them. This helps reduce the defective signals to the lower limbs.

If the campaign is successful the surgery will be carried out at Saint Louis Children's Hospital in the US.

The club's captain Wade Elliot said: "For everything he has to contend with, he's such a lovely upbeat boy and he's Bristol through and through."

Original post:
Campaign launched at Bristol City match to get Whitchurch boy walking