THE parents of a three-year-old Newport boy with cerebral palsy have launched a fundraising appeal to raise £60,000 for life-changing surgery which will help him walk independently.

Oliver Armstrong, who was born prematurely with his twin brother, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy spastic diplegia at 18 months after his parents realised he was not reaching his milestones, such as sitting up properly or crawling.

Oliver, who attends Norfolk House Nursery in Newport one day a week, is not able to stand or walk independently and currently uses a frame.

His parents, Jane Parker and Anthony Armstrong, are aiming to raise £60,000 to pay for Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) surgery at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, and ongoing therapy which is required afterwards.

The parents launched a fundraising appeal in February after being told funding from NHS Wales was not widely available. To date only a small number of children have received funding for SDR operations from NHS Wales as a pot of £200,000 was available.

The parents have since organised comedy nights, charity days, a quiz night and taken part in fundraising races to raise more than £13,000.

They are now appealing for the community to support the appeal, and are hoping to reach the £60,000 target ahead of the school year in September, 2018.

Oliver’s mother, Ms Parker, said the surgery would be “transformational”.

“Oliver is fun, bright and inquisitive, and desperate to join in with his brothers’ games,” said Ms Parker, 36, of Goodrich Crescent, Newport.

She said: “He currently uses a walker to get around but what we have seen from SDR we believe this could make a huge difference to his quality of life.

“There is evidence to demonstrate that SDR is associated with substantial long-term benefits. These are not only related to reduction in spasticity, but also relate to improved movement and walking as well as improved quality of life.”

SDR is a form of specialist spinal surgery which involves cutting the nerves in the spine that cause tightness in the legs. After the surgery, ongoing therapy will be required which is hoped will allow Oliver to walk independently.

Doctors have told Oliver’s parents it is better to undertake the surgery at a younger age.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee said it cannot comment on individual cases or funding requests.

The spokeswoman added: “We care greatly about commissioning the best care for the people of Wales and our commitment is to the provision of cost-effective new treatments fairly available to all.

“The £200,000 of funding made available by Welsh Government for paediatric patients to undergo SDR treatment has now been fully committed.

“A cohort of Welsh paediatric patients have been assessed, undergone surgery and are receiving post operative physiotherapy in line with NHS England’s commissioning for evaluation process. As the commissioning through evaluation process for this procedure is now closed in NHS England it is not planned to commission any further cases for Wales at this point. A decision will be made on funding for SDR following the completion of the commissioning through evaluation process, which is due to be published in autumn 2018.”

To support the appeal please visit http://bit.ly/2x5ebss