As many of you know, Lacey, an amazing, beautiful, determined little girl, was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at the age of 9 months. She was a very impatient little madame from the start and wanted to meet the big wide world 7 weeks earlier than expected. She spent the first 22 days of her life in the neo natal unit at the Birmingham Women’s Hospital. She then had to have a routine head scan where the results shown that parts of her brain had deteriorated due to a lack of oxygen during birth. Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects the muscle tightening in the body and in Lacey’s case, it affects her legs and causes spacticity. Lacey has come an awful long way since April 2013 when the doctors diagnosed her with Cerebral Palsy and quoted “she will never be able to walk". Well we said “damn you doctors! We will show you!” She has reached her milestones just like any other children do.. maybe just a little later than her friends. BUT... she got there and she thrived to succeed in everything she put her mind to! She sat up unaided, crawled, stood up and held her weight using furniture, took her first steps using a walking frame and what do you know... she can now take steps without no other aids other than her specialised foot splints! It is amazing to see how much she has achieved and she is so proud of herself.. just as all of her family and friends are too. There is a surgery known as SDR (Selective dorsal rhizotomy) which is a procedure that treats muscle spasticity caused by abnormal communication among the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. It corrects muscle spasticity by cutting the nerve rootlets in the spinal cord that are sending abnormal signals to the muscles. During Lacey's last appointment at Sheffield Children's Hospital, we were pleased to hear the news that Lacey is going to benefit from the surgery and that she will be able to have it done to help her improve even more than she already has. However, we also had the news that the NHS have now stopped funding this operation and it will have to be funded ourselves. Although this is something that has felt very frustrating and caused some anger, we know that this is something life changing for Lacey and will help her become more independent and live a fulfilling life to the best she can! If the operation goes as expected then it will help to majorly improve her mobility skills, and after intense physiotherapy, hopefully lead to Lacey walking unaided and being able to participate in daily routines independently, without having to rely on support from family and friends. And in the words of Lacey herself “when I have my magic legs, I won’t just walk... I will run and do big jumps too!” Lacey has the determination of a trooper and she always will have. WE together are going to raise the money she needs to have that operation no matter what it takes! We have a target of £30,000 which will fund solely the operation itself as there are so many specialists involved in this major operation. She will need to be in surgery for the whole day and 2 weeks minimum recovery period in hospital in a different city to home. Any donations will be greatly appreciated and will be making a huge difference no matter how big or how small. Thank you for taking the time to read her story and hopefully soon.. you will be able to read the post op story. Every pound is a step towards Lacey’s magic legs!