Washington family fundraising to send triplet Derek to pioneering clinic

24 Oct 2013 09:06

A family from Washington are fundraising to pay for life changing surgery that will help one of their triplets to walk

Stricken triplet Derek Russells dreams of walking tall have taken a major step forward.

Surgeons at a pioneering clinic in St Louis, Missouri, have accepted the two-year-old cerebral palsy sufferer to undergo a ground- breaking operation to enable him to walk.

Specialists in the US have already performed similar operations which have meant the likes of North East children Archie Anderson, Callum Brown, Ben Elliott and Lily Gordon have all been given the gift of mobility.

And now Derek has been given similar hope which would allow him to play with brother Daniel and sister Terri.

His mum Michelle, 34 and dad Derek, 39, from Barmston, Washington, were told Dereks only hope was to travel to America to undergo the selective dorsal rhizotomy, a procedure which can transform lives.

The family, which includes brothers and sisters John, 16, Rebecca, 13, Anthony, 12 and Joseph aged nine, along with the other triplets Daniel and Terri, have set themselves a target of raising 60,000 in 12 months to pay for the treatment not available on the NHS.

Michelle, said: It is very frustrating for him not to be able to join in with his brothers and sisters. But he is amazing and he just tries to have fun in his own way all the same.

I get so upset when I see him not being able to join in and at night he can have painful spasms. But he gives me a cheeky grin and that cheers me up.

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Washington family fundraising to send triplet Derek to pioneering clinic