Josh pins hopes on £40k operation

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Josh Freeman with brother James and parents James and Lyuda.

JOSH Freeman is hoping that a pioneering operation in the States will enable him to walk again.

The eight-year-old Bishopswood boy suffers from cerebral palsy and has spent his life confined to a wheelchair.

Frustratingly, he is mentally bright but cannot move around and play with his younger brother, Johnny.

But his parents James and Lyuda are hard at work fundraising so he can have a brighter and more mobile future following the £40,000 surgical procedure at St Louis Children’s Hospital.

They have less than five months to raise the funds before Josh is scheduled to fly to the US.

“The operation is going to really change Josh’s life,” said Lyuda.
“He was born nine weeks prematurely and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 14 months old.
“He has had to do regular physiotherapy since then and he has spent all these years working very hard on it. But his legs are getting stiffer over the years and he is in a wheelchair 90 per cent of the time.
“This will get worse and he will eventually have to have an operation on his hip if this is not done.”

The main fundraising event will be an auction of promises which is going to be held at Bishopswood House on June 23.

Some superb prizes have already been donated including a helicopter flight, entry to a BBC show, tickets for a Hereford FC game and a tour of the legendary Rockfield Studios near Monmouth.

There will be a jumble sale held at Ruardean Village Hall on May 26 from 11am to 2pm to raise funds for the operation. For more information about the fundraising events or to donate, visit www.justgiving.com/JoshuasWishtoWalk.

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