LITTLE Jack Pike has received an early Christmas present in the form of £2,000 towards costly rehabilitation therapies after his major spinal surgery next year. Thanks to a successful public appeal for donations, his family were able to raise the £24,000 necessary for the surgery at Frenchay Hospital near Bristol and a further £8,000 towards recovery.

But painful months of physiotherapy will take a financial toll on the Pikes.

The donation of £2,000 from the Tony Long Trust, which helps people with cerebral palsy and associated disabilities, has lifted a weight off their shoulders.

Jack’s mum, Kylie, said she was speechless when Tony called to offer the sum.

“I was very emotional and it brought tears to my eyes, “she said. “ I’m so happy. He has a daughter with cerebral palsy so he knows what we are going through.

“We are still fundraising for Jack’s recovery and it’s not easy.

“It’s an extra £2,000 we don’t have to raise. Just spending a week in a hotel in Bristol to be near Jack has cost £1,000.”

The Pikes were refused NHS funding for the surgery, which means that they will have to make every penny collected count, especially throughout Jack’s long recovery process.

Kylie added: “Paying for physio twice a week for six months will be expensive and £8,000 was not enough. But I want the best I can get for Jack and the best results.”

Jack suffers from spastic diplegia cerebral palsy, which causes stiffness to his leg muscles, making it very difficult for him to walk.

The Abbey Meads School pupil is expected to recover full use of his legs thanks to the Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy operation.

Tony, who has helped children in very similar situations in the past, called the Pikes immediately after reading that the date had finally been set for the boy’s operation, to assist with anything he might need during the recovery period.

Tony said: “We were waiting to put money in until there was definitely going to be an operation. “In some cases, although parents have that in mind, the operation doesn’t happen for whatever reason.”

Jack, who was born with an enlarged heart and has a heart murmur, had to undergo a test, known as an ECG, last summer to make sure he would be able to cope with the surgery. He will also have a battery of tests before the operations take place on January 6 and 15. He will be hospitalised for a minimum of three weeks.