A football-mad youngster who can’t walk unaided needs help if he is to achieve his dream of having a kickabout with his friends.

Hackney Gazette: Carter could walk with a life-changing operation. Picture: Polly HancockCarter could walk with a life-changing operation. Picture: Polly Hancock (Image: Archant)

Four-year-old Carter Briqui, of Beck Road, London Fields was born with cerebral palsy, which affects his movement and coordination and leaves him in near-constant pain. He cannot balance without the use of a walking frame.

His mum Nadia says he is “extremely happy, chatty, polite and active”, but being in pain makes him sad and he regularly asks her: “Why can I not walk, run and jump like my friends?”

But now Carter has been offered a lifeline. Doctors at Great Ormond Street have said he qualifies for a life-changing operation called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), which will improve his spasticity, or muscle stiffness.

The surgery would stop the pain and could even see Carter running about and playing football with his friends.

So Nadia has set up a fundraising page to help pay for the procedure and the intense physiotherapy that will follow, which will total £50,000.

“Unfortunately SDR is not funded by the NHS,” she said. “So please help us raise the money to get Carter his new legs that he has always dreamed of.

“The operation will reduce or stop any pain that Carter has and with a lot of physiotherapy input Carter will not have to constantly rely on his walking frame to get around. With a lot of work and determination he could be running around and playing football with his friends completely unaided.”

The physiotherapist and surgeon at Great Ormond Street explained to Nadia that if Carter does not get the operation he is at huge risk of living the rest of his life wheelchair bound and as he gets older, due to his muscles getting tighter and stiffer, he will no longer be able to use his walking frame to get himself mobile.

More than £5,000 has been raised in just one week on the GoFundMe page, with £50 and £100 donations coming in left, right and centre.

To donate to the fundraiser, click here.