Telethon boy's big picture

Meet 11-year-old Jack Day, this years face of Telethon.

Jack Day with Fat Cat. Picture: Richard Hatherly Source: The Sunday Times

JACK Day wants to be a writer when he grows up. It would be a fitting profession for a boy with such a remarkable story.

The inspirational 11-year-old, of Karrinyup, has had nine operations for cerebral palsy.

Jack, who today will be announced as this year's metropolitan Telethon child, said if there was one thing he'd learnt from his experiences it was never to give up.

"You get mad sometimes," he said. "You stumble and cry, but that's life. If you mope and go, 'Poor me, I have a disability', then after a while people aren't going to feel sorry for you and your life will just go downhill.

"But, if you just take it as, 'I'm no different from everyone, everyone's different from me. What's wrong with them', You will just skyrocket." Jack was diagnosed with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that causes constant muscle stiffness in his legs and left arm, and needs constant treatment. His mother, Cora, said Jack's life has been a struggle.

His first four weeks were spent in 24-hour care at Princess Margaret Hospital's neo-natal ward. At 10, Jack needed surgery to have his femur cut and twisted to straighten his leg.

"From six months of age he has had botox every six months," Mrs Day said.

"Then at one he had an eye operation. Then three more after that.

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Telethon boy's big picture