A five-year-old boy who doctors feared would be wheelchair bound for life has walked unaided for the first time after a "miracle" operation. Joey Patterson was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in 2017 after mum Gemma noticed he was choking on his food.
Doctors said the youngster would be confined to a wheelchair unless he had pioneering spinal surgery. Sadly, Joey did not meet the criteria to have the operation on the NHS so his parents launched a fundraising appeal to have it done privately.
After months of fundraising, his family finally hit the £50,000 target for Joey to have SDR (Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy) at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2019. Surgeons opened up Joey's spine and cut the nerves which were sending abnormal messages to his leg muscles which meant he was unable to walk.
Joey, from Loughborough, Leicestershire underwent months of gruelling physiotherapy where he was taught how to walk. He has now built up the strength to walk 100 steps on his own.
Mum-of-three Gemma, 38, a midwife, said: "Seeing Joey walk on his own for the first time after we were told he might be in a wheelchair for life was like a miracle. He has now built up the strength and made 100 steps on his own which is just amazing.
"Joey was born totally healthy, his labour was fine and there was no reason for anything to be flagged up. When he got to around six months and we noticed that he wasn’t rolling, trying to crawl and not meeting milestones, I thought 'what is going on?'
"In February 2017, at 10 months old, he started choking on his food and the cerebral palsy had not been picked up by anyone that there was anything wrong. After a further choking episode we ended up at A&E where they picked up that it could be cerebral palsy.
"He used to be in so much pain in his legs too. He would wake up crying in pain 15-20 times a night. He was even on medication that alcoholics have to stop his spasms but none of it worked. He had a brain scan and doctors told us he and got a quick diagnosis of cerebral palsy.
"He wasn’t allowed to eat, he had to have fluid instead because he was choking. It was a bleak picture. We did some research and found out he could have SDR but it wasn’t funded by the NHS.
"We just thought we had to try and raise the money to have it done. We started fundraising and were completely overwhelmed by the response."
The pioneering operation involved electrodes being places on Joey's nerves to stop faulty messages reaching his leg muscles. Dad Anthony, 46, an electrician, said: "Part of Joey’s brain is dead because of lack of oxygen – that was sending faulty messages to his legs to be really rigid.
"He came round from the procedure, and the minute he woke up he wanted a gingerbread man and he took a bit and chewed it. We were shocked. It was like by taking away the rigidness in his legs, it had freed up the rest of his body.
"The surgeon was telling us to touch and bend his feet, something we could not do before. It was amazing. He does still have some pain in his legs – but not as much as he used to have.
"We had to have intensive physiotherapy because his legs were so weak and have followed up with physio three times a week after the procedure. After a year of physio, he slowly started making his first steps in December of 2019.
"He was standing just for a couple of seconds. Then he took three steps. It was a Christmas miracle. From there, he has built up and gaining strength. He is still using a walker to help him, but we were told he was going to be a wheelchair child.
"He never uses his wheelchair now. He has done about 100 steps at home now unaided and he could probably do more. He loves Power Rangers and Marvel, basically anything to do with superheroes fighting. There’s still a long way to go for him but thanks to the procedure, he's now a normal five-year-old boy."
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