A SIX-year-old boy is in need of £35,000 funding for treatment to allow him to walk independently for the first time.

George Jewell-Hanson, from Thelwall, has cerebral palsy - having suffered brain damage after being born prematurely.

The condition limits the youngster’s ability to move freely, and he currently uses a walking frame or wheelchair to assist with his mobility.

But George is set for a ‘life-changing’ operation that could allow him to walk without needing supports.

An older brother to two-year-old sister Elsie, the Thelwall Community Infant School pupil is set to undergo surgery at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.

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George Jewell-Hanson with mum Emma and two-year-old sister Elsie

And while the operation is funded on the NHS, vital aftercare for the youngster is not.

Because of this, George’s family are pleading for help from members of the public in a bid to raise £35,000 for his physiotherapy following the selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery - which is scheduled to take place in September this year.

Mum Emma said: “George was born prematurely, at 30 weeks, and then he had a brain haemorrhage.

“We knew he had brain damage, but he was officially diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was one.

“He has learning difficulties and he can’t walk or get around as easily as people without a disability.

“Cerebral palsy causes tightness in his muscles which means he can’t use his legs properly, so the operation will go into his spinal chord and cut away some of the faulty nerves.

“This will ease the tightness in his legs, but it will leave him with some weakness initially - which is why he needs to have quite intensive physiotherapy afterwards.”

Around £3,500 needed for the £35,000 Gorgeous George - Little Man on a Mission campaign, run with the help of charity Just4Children, has been raised to date.

In spite of the challenges he faces, George continues to be a ‘really happy’ youngster.

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Emma added: “Hopefully, George will be able to walk better and have less pain - and he might even be able to walk independently.

“He’s never walked by himself - he has a walking frame and he can stand by himself for a few seconds, but that’s it.

“Hopefully, he will be able to stand by himself for longer which will give him a lot more independence and, as he grows up, allow him to make his own food and things like that.

“And hopefully he will be able to take a few steps as well.

“It will be life-changing for him - it’s a very big surgery but it will affect his whole life.

“George just tends gets on with it and is really happy - I think he’d just like to be like his peers.”

To donate, click here.

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