A BRAVE five-year-old from Bolton has undergone a life-changing operation to help him fulfil his dream of being able to play football.

Adam Oomer, a pupil at Heathfield Primary School in Henniker Road, underwent a four-hour operation on Thursday at St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri to help him to walk without a frame and without standing on his tip-toes.

Adam was diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy when he was 18 months old, and the selective dorsal rhizotomy operation was his best hope of being able to walk freely and improve his coordination.

His parents, Alyha and Mohammed Oomer, who live in Morris Green, rallied round to raise funds to cover the cost of the operation, accommodation and travel costs.

They managed to raise more than £45,000 after starting fundraising in November.

His surgery is thought to have gone well and doctors hope Adam will be taking part in outdoor activities in the future.

Mrs Oomer, speaking on Friday after his operation, said: “Adam’s appetite slowly returned today and again he was pretty thirsty.

“He has been so good and brave. His doctor, Dr Park, visited him and asked him to lift his legs and wiggle his toes, which he did, and he was happy with that.”

She said Adam was getting bored lying in bed but was instructed to rest until Sunday, when his physiotherapy started. Speaking before the operation, Mrs Oomer said she could not imagine Adam not being reliant on splints to walk.

She said: “Whilst we’re a bit anxious about the surgery, it feels like we’re doing the right thing.

“We’ve spent a good couple of years with Adam wearing splints on his legs every day to try and rotate his feet back out. Not having to do that is very hard to imagine.”

Adam will undergo a heel and calf lengthening operation on Saturday.

Fundraising continues because he will not be able to have physiotherapy on the NHS when he returns because the operation has been carried out in the USA.

Adam has the same condition as Ethan Pope, from Great Lever, who underwent surgery in the same American hospital last July.

Readers can follow Adam’s progress and donate money via helpadam.org.uk