Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am raising money to help my friend Lucas. Lucas is the 3 year old son of my friend Sara.

Lucas was born in 2010. He did not seem to want to enter the world at first but was given a helping hand (emergency caesarian section). Lucas developed like any other child until he arrived at the age he should have been sitting up. His parents noticed that he didn't move his legs seperately when he crawled and dragged them along the ground. Convinced that there was something unusual about his development, they pushed for consultations with health visitors, GPs, and paediatricians. 10 months later Lucas was diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy.

This condition means he can not stand or walk independantly. Caused by a particular form of brain damage, his leg muscles are always tense. As he grows his muscles will not grow with him, causing pain, muscle/joint breakdown including tendonitis and arthritis, physical exhaustion, contractures, spasms, and deformities/mis-alignments of bone structure

Lucas has a chance to be helped. Selective Dorsal Rhisotomy (SDR) is an operation developed in the United States that will relieve him of this tension, pain, and the need for further extensive orthopedic surgery. SDR will help his balance and be a step toward him walking independently.

Lucas has been accepted for SDR in St Louis Hospital, Missouri by the doctor who pioneered this operation. He was also recently referred to Great Ormond Street (GOSH) in London as a private patient. This operation is not funded by the NHS and neither is the extensive physiotherapy that will be needed as a follow up.

We need to raise just over £50,000 (a bit less if he's accepted at GOSH) by March 2014. If this is something that has touched your heart, you can help by participating in our CupCake workshop in Brussels! Or just  donating (even something small).

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.