Jace
We're proud to support a local footballer's £40,000 fundraising campaign for life changing surgery
Jace, who lives in Somerset and is 4 years old was born 5 weeks premature. At 18 months of age he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Due to his disability, Jace cannot stand or walk unaided and as his leg muscles are stiff which causes him pain. There is no cure for Cerebral Palsy; the medication and Botox which are offered only help for a short amount of time due to their effectiveness decreasing.
Jace’s family have been told that he is eligible for Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) surgery, which involves severing a proportion of the nerves in the spine which have the most spasticity (which causes his muscles to be stiff). After a couple years of physiotherapy to re-train and strengthen his muscles back up, Jace will be able to walk and stand unaided, preventing him from becoming wheelchair-bound in the future.
Despite its amazing success rate, this operation is not available through the NHS and including compulsory aftercare, the family must raise £40,000 for Jace to be able to have this surgery.
Jace’s family are aiming to raise these funds within two years, because as Jace gets older he would require multiple surgeries (such as orthopedic lengthening) which can be avoided by having the SDR operation as soon as possible.
You can donate towards Jace’s surgery by texting Jace83 £5 to 70070
Follow Jace’s SDR Journey on Facebook “Jace’s SDR Journey” and on Twitter @JacesSDRJourney
Football helps to compliment the work Jace does with his physio in a fun way, and allows him to do things other non CP children do. It is easy to assume that children with Cerebral Palsy cannot do things, but I think that Jace and his teammates show us every week that they can! Jace is making amazing progress at Football each week, which has helped him not just physically, but socially as well.
Watch more about Jace's Frame Football Team below!
We heard about Frame Football through Jace's physio, we then joined the Bristol Frame Football Team in January 2017 when Jace was 3 and a half years old. Jace enjoys playing Football with the team, although he is the youngest player and can be a little shy. He has learnt to dribble the ball down the pitch and loves it when he scores a goal! (He also enjoys stealing the coach's whistle and telling others what to do). During our Saturday training session, he is taught to control the ball, to be able to move in between cones and run up and down the pitch without losing the ball.
- Louisa, Jace's Mum