A family are making a desperate plea for the public to help their beloved son try to walk again.

In the past three years, 11-year-old Charlie Welsh from Winsford has endured a battle no other child should ever have to face.

It all started in 2014 when he was eight; Charlie was diagnosed with scarlet fever and then Kawasaki disease just a few weeks later, which causes a fever and rash. This triggered a condition called PANDAS which causes the sudden onset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Tourette’s Syndrome.

As if things couldn’t get any worse for Charlie, just weeks later during a playground game, he fell forward and headbutted play equipment, leaving him with an acquired brain injury.

Since then, he hasn’t been able to walk and his devastated mum Angela said she feels like she has lost the child she once had.

'Happy-go-lucky'

“It’s so hard,” she said. “He has a great personality and he deals with it all well, even with everything that has happened he is still happy-go-lucky but we don’t know what the future holds.”

Charlie’s physiotherapist has suggested that he would benefit from using a standing frame and when he recently tried one out, seeing him able to stand again was an emotional experience for Angela.

“To see him stand for the first time in three years was so emotional for me – and the grin on his face was just amazing,” she said. “If Charlie could have a standing frame of his own he would be able to get used to weight bearing again and maybe even take a few steps.

“At the moment he’s isolated, but a standing frame would increase his confidence, his general health and help him socially too as it would be easier for him to talk to others if he’s standing up.”

Appeal

But the frame costs £2,781 and in desperation, Angela contacted the Newlife Charity for Disabled Children for help.

Newlife is the UK’s leading charity provider of specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness. They are now asking kind-hearted donors to help fund the equipment which would help Charlie mobilise without help, change his position to stop him being uncomfortable and once more let him look others in the eye when he speaks to them.

Angela said: “He is on long-term antibiotics because of the risk of further infection and he has had a lot of physio, but he can’t weight bear. His physiotherapist suggested a standing frame would really benefit him, and he was recently able to try one. Charlie has joined a gymnastic team for those with disabilities and won an outstanding seven gold medals in his first competition.

“He now hopes having the standing frame will help him do much more in life. With a standing frame he could maybe walk if he practiced. He could also go out with friends and play more sports.”

If you would like to support Charlie in getting his equipment, go to www.newlifecharity.co.uk/cheshire and click on the Donate button next to his story. Any funds raised above the amount needed for Charlie’s standing frame will be used to help other children in Cheshire as he is currently one of 22 children with equipment needs of £46,900 in the county.