Hi,

My name is James McDevitt, I am currently trying to raise funds to help my friends' son. His name is Joshua and he suffers from a type of Cerebral Palsy called Spastic Diplegia. 

Here is Joshua's story from his mum Ashley.....

Joshua is 9 Years old and has a condition called Cerebral palsy. There are many different types of Cerebral Palsy, his is Spastic Diplegia.

This type of Cerebral Palsy causes there to be increased spasticity in his legs, making it very difficult and sore for him to walk.

He was born 10 weeks premature, and weighed a tiny 3lbs 6oz. He spent 7 weeks in intensive care, where he spent most of his days on oxygen to help him breath. When he was finally getting ready to go home the doctors discovered he had a slight bleed in his brain, in which they believe is how he has CP.

At the age of 14months I noticed Joshua wasnt doing the things a baby would do for his age. After consulting with the doctors they diagnosed him with CP.

Since then he has had weekly physio, had an occupational therapist and a home teacher. At the age of 3 he started learning to use a walking frame. At the age of 4 I decided that instead of a buggy I would get Joshua a self propelling wheel chair so he could learn to be more independent, and he soon picked up the speed with that!!

Everyday he wears splints to support his ankles, which can be very uncomfortable and has to do his stretches to try stop his muscles from getting tighter.

2 years ago I looked up treatments for CP, and found that Botox injections and Baclofen medicine can help reduce the high tone in muscles. Every 3 months Joshua received injections to his legs, being so brave, not getting anesthetic. I then spoke to the consultants about Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) and was told of the risks which left a lot to think about. After careful consideration and research as a family we felt the risks were low and statistics proved this, so we consulted our Doctor, who was very negative towards the operation.Since then we have been told Joshua will not be a suitable candidate here in the UK for SDR, so I have applied to St Louis Childrens Hospital.

If everyone could help us raise the money needed for the operation Dr Parks team in St Louis could perform the life changing surgery. Dr Park has carried out thousands of these opperations having successful results. Obviously I would like to see Joshua walk unaided without the worry of his frame or chair, but if he was to come home from St Louis with just a little more independence it would make everyday life a lot easier for us.

He has worked so hard to keep his legs working and strong and I promise to keep him working even more harder after the operation to get great results. He might have the chance to walk without his frame, it may take a few years hard work but we never have this chance again.

This operation is by no means a cure for Joshuas CP, but a treatment to tranform his life.

The operation itself involves the surgeon making an incision into Joshuas back at the bottom of his spine and testing the nerve endings to see which ones are the most responsive.These are the ones that are causing Joshuas legs to be extremely stiff and making it difficult for him to walk.They will then cut the most responsive ones which will in turn reduce the stiffness in his legs. Joshua will then need intensive physio therapy afterwards to ensure he gets the best effects of the operation.The end result being that Joshua will be able to walk unaided and be far more independent.This means more to Joshua than anything in the entire world and as a parent I cannot let this opportunity of a better life pass us by just because the NHS isn’t willing to carry this out.If you are a parent or Aunty or Uncle, ask yourself how you would feel if a family member who was completely dependant on other people had the chance to become independent and have a much better quality of life, wouldn’t you do everything you could to make this happen.That is why we are now asking you to help us make a difference for our handsome, brave boy. 

As a father this made me think a little about my own sons life and how we were blessed that he was born fit and well. I have organised a skydive for the 14/09/13 and would like to raise as much as I can to help this lil chap get a chance of a life that he dreams of. All donations are appreciated even as little as a £1 can help towards this cause.

Thank you.