THIS month marked another victory in Luca Railton’s battle to walk unaided and pain free for the very first time – less than two years after facing amputation.

After an agonising healing process and a setback earlier this month when the lengthening of his right leg was delayed due to an unexpected growth spurt, Luca is on the mend and will soon able to return to the UK.

In May, the 11-year-old Cricklade schoolboy, who was born with no bone in his right knee, no right tibia and only a partial left tibia due to the rare condition bilateral tibial hemimelia, flew to America with his parents Teresa and Alex to receive life-changing surgery.

There, he underwent three painful procedures, including an operation to break his right leg and start lengthening his femur.

Each day for several weeks, his parents had to turn struts placed in their son’s leg to allow the bone to grow.

But, despite the abysmal downs over the past four months, the prospect of seeing her son walking without calipers has spurred Teresa and her husband on every step of the way.

“The good news is that Luca’s leg reached equal length last Friday, and we hope and pray that, if there are any more growing spurts, both legs will do this at the same time,” said Teresa.

“Luca’s left leg has more progressive growth plates and we know in the future that another leg length will be needed.

“Luca remains positive but has struggled for the past month with severe cramps and pain.

“Now the lengthening has been completed the cramps will ease but he must push himself more to walk as this will increase blood flow and help with the healing.

“Once Luca feels a bit brighter we can start visiting a bit more of Florida.

“We have been apartment bound for most of our stay so far.”

A fourth operation has been pushed back – potentially holding up the Railtons’ homecoming until next year.

“If all goes to plan and Luca heals we could be home just before Christmas. If not it will be some point in January.

“Luca is keen to get back home, back to school, back to a routine and seeing his friends.

“The miracle of these operations, and of this amazing surgeon, is that we will be bringing a boy not only fixed but walking without calipers. It’s so lovely to see Luca wearing shoes without a build and not worrying if they are wide enough to fit over his splints.

“We should be on the home straight now and our journey here could not have been possible without everyone’sgenerous donations.”