Thank you for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. We are raising money to get Tristan to America for a life-changing operation to help him to walk. You can follow our fundraising efforts and get details on events by going to www.facebook.com/tristans.target.

This story was written by Tristan's little brother - I hope you keep reading.

I am Ioan Dawe, and I am one year old! You say my name like "yo-un" but everyone calls me Yo-yo. Tristan is my big brother.

Tristan was born very suddenly 9 weeks prematurely in 2009. Despite him being so early, Mummy & Daddy said he had a very straightforward stay on the Neonatal Unit and they were lucky to be home within 5 weeks. But on their last day in hospital they were told that Tristan had Cerebral Palsy (CP). At one day old his blood pressure dropper leading to a lack of oxygen in his brain.

CP causes stiffness in limbs and joints making it difficult for Tristan to walk, dress, and get on & off the loo. We are lucky that he doesn't have any additional and associated difficulties such as trouble speaking and eating. Meet him once and you will know this as he doesn't stop talking and loves a good curry! He also loves bossing me about.

He is the most wonderful big brother. He never moans about going to appointments or doing his physio exercises, even if these means he misses out on playing with his friends. And even when I crash about distracting him or climbing all over him during his sessions. He has learnt to stay stood up in his walker even when I'm wobbling & leaning against on him! See, I do help!

I arrived in 2013 and Tristan is fantastic with me. Proud and loving but also fiercely protective of his own toys when I try to eat his favourite cars.

Mummy says this bit - CP is caused by damage to the brain meaning messages don't get through properly to the muscles. Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) is surgery on the spinal column where the nerves stopping the messages getting from the brain can be identified and isolated. They then simply cut them, releasing almost all the stiffness (keeping some so they can still stand up!). Intensive physio follows to teach those formally stiff, but actually quite weak, muscles to work in the right way. Tristan's CP causes his groin muscle to be constantly 'on' meaning it is hard for him to walk correctly. As you can see from the picture, he can use a kaye-walker (kind of like a backwards zimmer-frame!) but he struggles due him having to concentrate on relaxing his legs to move in a stepping motion, and remembering to keep his core muscles strong to hold him up. He could fall frequently if we're not there to catch him. SDR is not a magic cure, but it will give him increased freedom of movement and therefore the opportunity to learn to walk. If it simply helps him learn to dress himself or get on and off the loo it will be wonderful and worth it. We heard recently that the NHS are no longer funding this operation so we are having to raise the money ourselves and go to America where the best surgeon in world is - at St Louis Children's Hospital. Any money left over will be put towards his physiotherapy afterwards, any equipment he may need to improve his walking skills and to help us care for him.

I really hope you can help us raise this money. I want to be able to beat him fair and square at rugby when I'm older.

£10 will pay for a session horse riding/ equine therapy. £50 will pay for one hours physiotherapy

We are raising money for Tristan through Tree of Hope. ALL money donated is ring-fenced for him.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Should we exceed the target amount (or if we do not raise enough funds, or if they cannot be used for any other reason) the funds raised will go to the general funds of Tree of Hope to assist other sick children.

Thank you for reading.

Yo-yo xxxx