Lewis Brierley is our 12-year old son from Eccles, Manchester. Lewis has just started St Patricks High School in Eccles. Lewis was diagnosed at a very young age with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy. He is a happy little boy who would love to live a normal life and do things like playing football with his friends. Lewis has to rely on a wheelchair to get around and go about his everyday life.

Spastic Cerebral Palsy is a form of cerebral palsy that causes tightness in the muscles. Because of this tightness, spastic cerebral palsy patients have a difficult time controlling their movement. Their motions may be abrupt and jerky.   Cerebral Palsy is treated in the UK with a combination of Botox, Physio and eventually muscle/tendon lengthening surgery. However in other countries SDR is the first procedure of choice, therefore ridding the child of spasticity at an early age and allowing normal muscle/bone growth. 

Lewis has been offered the chance of an operation in America that will remove the spasticity in his legs allowing him to walk unaided and for the first time feel comfort at a level that we all take for granted.

This website is to help raise funds for Lewis to have surgery in St Louis - USA. Please help us to raise the money to send Lewis for this amazing life changing surgery the target is £45,000 a huge challenge but not impossible!
                                                                                                                                         An extract from Lewis's acceptance letter from Dr T.S. Park , St Louis's Children Hospital:

"We have reviewed the information and feel that he shows the same typical signs of spastic diplegia as many other children who have benefited greatly from the selective dorsal rhizotomy. We have seen consistent improvement in children very similar to him.

We feel that he is a very good candidate for and we strongly recommend the rhizotomy surgery. If he has the surgery we expect the following improvements.

·         His sitting postures will improve. 
·         His walking will improve and we expect that he will be able to walk functionally in all environments with canes and has a chance for some independent ambulation.
·         His standing posture will improve
·         His level of comfort will improve significantly.
·         The muscle tone in his legs will be permanently reduced
·         He will require orthopedic surgery for both ankles and both hamstring muscles to achieve the best possible outcomes. 

For all of the reasons mentioned above, we feel that Lewis is a very good candidate for the rhizotomy surgery and that the permanent reduction in abnormal muscle tone will help him significantly.

T.S. Park, MD Joan Puglisi, PT, PCS
Neurosurgeon in Chief Coordinator, Center for Cerebral Palsy Spasticity
St. Louis Children’s Hospital St. Louis Children’s Hospital"

Charity Registration No. 1079770