Hi, my name is Ryan, and I’m 7 years old. I have a condition called Cerebral Palsy, which affects my two legs and my left arm. If you don’t know about Cerebral Palsy, it’s a condition where the part of my brain that sends messages down my spinal cord was affected at birth. Because of this, it’s a real challenge for me to walk because of the spasticity in my legs and arms.

My physio and doctor are hopeful that by the age of 10, I’ll be able to take a few steps with an aid. However, anything more than that will require me to use a wheelchair.

My mam has researched and found out about an operation called SDR (Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy). This surgery will fix the nerves that were damaged at birth. It will remove the muscle spasms in my legs, which cause me so much pain every day and night, and reduce my need for a wheelchair.

In order to be a Power Ranger when I’m older, I’m going to need this surgery, which I will have at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). We will have to live in London for four weeks to recover, and I’m so happy to say that after a long battle, we’ve secured NHS funding. However, for this operation to work, I need a minimum of 2 years of intense therapy after my surgery. The NHS provides only one session a week, but the minimum requirement is three, so we need extra funds to cover this additional therapy.

This is why my family is raising £30,000. We started a fundraising campaign four years ago with the goal of going to America for this surgery. Things were going quite well, but unfortunately, my health deteriorated, and I wasn’t strong enough to travel or undergo surgery. I’ve had many urology issues over the last few years, including two occasions where I was very ill with sepsis.

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me so far with all the amazing raffles and events! We raised just over £5,000, which is still in my account, and I want to thank everyone who helped make that possible.

So here we are again, asking for help to help me reach my potential. Any donations, fundraising ideas, or general support would be greatly appreciated. My surgery is scheduled for March 2024, so we have just 8 months to raise the funds.

As a treat for all the hard work, sleepless nights, pain, and just for being brave, my mammy is going to take me to Disneyland once I’ve recovered so I can do all the things I couldn’t do the first time I went. I really want to stay in the pink hotel!

The money we raise will go toward extra physio at a physio center, gym equipment (e.g., treadmill, weights, gym mats) for me to do physio at home in my own “man shed.” It will also help my mam when we have to be in the hospital for four weeks. After we get home, she won’t be able to leave me for three months.

If we can raise enough, we’d also love to plan a special family vacation to Disneyland Paris at the end of this three-year journey.

My mammy believes in me—will you, too?

LOVE, RYAN XX

Please visit my Facebook page to share my journey:

Ryan's Fundraising

7.5% of all donations to Tree of Hope in relation to this appeal will be allocated to the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope to cover our core operating costs.

If we raise insufficient funds, or surplus funds, then the funds will be used, if appropriate, to fund support for our child’s needs in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objects. If in those circumstances we are unable to use all or part of the funds for the benefit of our child in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objectives, then any funds that cannot be used will be transferred to be used for the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope.