Campaign for doctors to treat children like Henry - This Is Somerset

Henry Ford's parents need a specialized center to be placed in a hospital in Bristol to other young people under the same conditions as their son deal with.

Polly and Simon Ford, Midsomer Norton, became the first parents in the United Kingdom to a community campaign to demand the £ 40 000, to raise his son to a treatment currently only known in America as selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is to start The nerve is cut by the spinal canal and releasing tight or spastic muscles.

It is now almost two years since Henry, who has spastic diplegia paralysis paralysis, had his operation, and since then, Ford has more than 50 other families inspired to call their community, the change to raise funds for a child's life, including family of Ethan Smith, who also lives in Midsomer Norton.

They now want a center set up at Frenchay Hospital to save other parents from stress and trauma to thousands of travel miles and find huge sums of money to get treatment.

Two pediatric neurosurgeons in the United Kingdom have been trained in DTS. One of the doctors, Kristian Aquilina, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Frenchay consultant, supported by Mr. and Mrs. Ford, and hopes that new NICE guidelines means the treatment may soon be available in the United Kingdom.

Mrs Ford said: "The help I received from the community to pay for the operation Henry has changed the lives of my little boy forever.

"I would never have to say how grateful I am for everyone and we are all the other children with similar conditions, the same chance of being desperate to express.

"Henry was the first treatment and thank you parents the site, children can have the same status to find out how they could have done the same thing.

"What we would like to see is a center here in this country, parents have to work without major changes, spend a month in America.

"Because the treatment was not available here on the NHS in a way we felt naked to move the treatment."

Henry and his family also feature in the Daily Mirror last week, seeking the stories of some of the 50 children who have treatment in America and how their lives have improved dramatically.

The families featured in the article had started the campaign group of SDRs in the UK to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford took his son, now six years for the treatment with neurosurgeon Dr. Tae Sung Park, Hôpital Saint-Louis Missouri children.

Henry himself has been celebrating success after impressing his parents and teachers to walk five steps without support for the first time.

Mrs Ford said: "I am so proud of Henry, he did it brilliantly, he is a true milestone in his progress ..

"I received a phone call from the school told me to come immediately. When I arrived a teacher crossed the parking lot to greet me, tell me what he had done.

"The confidence of Henry was shot, the transaction also. We would like to more families, to say the same thing. "