TREATMENT in the USA that will hopefully enable a Blackwood boy to walk will start on Thursday.

Bayli Lippiett and his family flew out last Friday for the youngster to undergo pioneering surgery after Argus readers raised a massive £58,300 in just seven months.

The three-year-old from Warne Road, Fleur-de-Lys, flew out with his parents, Darren, 26, and Katherine, 27, and grandparents to receive treatment at the St Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri.

Goodwill shown by Gwent people was also shown by airline Virgin Atlantic, who took 15 per cent off the air fares, allowing the grandparents to join the family for support.

We reported last year that Bayli could only walk short distances with the help of a walking frame.

His parents launched a campaign called A Dream to Walk, which aimed to raise funds for him to be treated for his quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

Tightening of muscles means Bayli cannot walk unaided, and it will only be possible if he receives an operation called selective dorsal rhizotomy, a procedure developed and only performed by a surgeon at the St Louis Children’s Hospital.

It involves removing the bone from one vertebra and making an incision in the spine, which stops faulty messages from the brain getting to a patient’s legs. This gives more balance, enabling them to walk.

Fundraisers were organised and donations received from around Gwent, including a family from Cwmbran who gave £20,000 – meaning the family could afford the operation.

Before the family left Mrs Lippiett said it was sometimes hard to believe so much money was raised so quickly. She said: “This time last year we wouldn’t have believed this possible.”

Before he left Bayli told friends he was “going to America” and a doctor is going to help him “play football and ride my scooter”.

The operation will take place on June 21 and the family will stay in the city until July 21 as Bayli then undergoes three weeks of physiotherapy.

The money will pay for the family to rent an apartment for a month in Missouri and physiotherapy after they return home.