This is the inspirational moment a little boy from Essex in southeast England walked without splints after a major operation.
Soccer-mad Ronnie Leys, a four-year-old from Saffron Walden, has cerebral palsy and needed specialist surgery known as selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) to stop him from falling over when doing the simplest of everyday tasks such as walking and running.
In the video, filmed at a physiotherapy session in Witham, Essex, on January 22, Ronnie takes several steps and even manages to scale a step.
"This was the first time he has managed to walk around unaided onto a step and off the step," his father Steve told Newsflare.
Ronnie, wearing the kit of his favorite soccer team Cambridge United, screams with delight when he makes it to the other side of the room.
Ronnie, who turns five in April, has to undergo a gruelling schedule of three physio sessions a week to help his rehabilitation.
"Ronnie tried doing a few steps without his splints today - you will see by his reaction what it meant to him and what a little fighter he really is,” his father Steve wrote online.
"We are all bursting with pride for our inspirational son."
Ronnie's life-changing operation was not available on the National Health Service.
"We had started fundraising in February 2018 and went on to raise £48,000 in 12 weeks," explains Steve. "He had his operation last October [and] he is now in the process of rehab, which will be ongoing for 18 months, minimum. We are still fundraising as he requires physio during this time and for the foreseeable future. The operation was £24,000."
Soccer-mad Ronnie Leys, a four-year-old from Saffron Walden, has cerebral palsy and needed specialist surgery known as selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) to stop him from falling over when doing the simplest of everyday tasks such as walking and running.
In the video, filmed at a physiotherapy session in Witham, Essex, on January 22, Ronnie takes several steps and even manages to scale a step.
"This was the first time he has managed to walk around unaided onto a step and off the step," his father Steve told Newsflare.
Ronnie, wearing the kit of his favorite soccer team Cambridge United, screams with delight when he makes it to the other side of the room.
Ronnie, who turns five in April, has to undergo a gruelling schedule of three physio sessions a week to help his rehabilitation.
"Ronnie tried doing a few steps without his splints today - you will see by his reaction what it meant to him and what a little fighter he really is,” his father Steve wrote online.
"We are all bursting with pride for our inspirational son."
Ronnie's life-changing operation was not available on the National Health Service.
"We had started fundraising in February 2018 and went on to raise £48,000 in 12 weeks," explains Steve. "He had his operation last October [and] he is now in the process of rehab, which will be ongoing for 18 months, minimum. We are still fundraising as he requires physio during this time and for the foreseeable future. The operation was £24,000."
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