New term and fresh hope for little Corey (From Swindon Advertiser)

New term and fresh hope for little Corey

9:20am Tuesday 11th September 2012 in News

CEREBRAL palsy patient Corey Cummings is back at school this week after spending the majority of his summer holidays with both legs in plaster.

Corey, six, of Coate Water , and his family and friends have spent the past few months raising money to help pay for an operation called a selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) which would help him walk unaided.

To ensure Corey is suitable for the operation, he has had to have both legs in plaster to try to stretch his knees.

It is hoped that this will help the tightness behind his hamstrings, which could have prevented him from having the operation.

He is now back at Lawn Primary School, and his mum, Kelly, said he was coping well.

“He is doing a lot better now and he is starting to get around a bit better,” she said.

“He wasn’t even able to crawl when he first had the casts put on and he was in a lot of pain but he is a lot better now and is doing well at school.

“On Saturday he had his first wrestling match with his teddies since he’s had his casts off – I’d missed the noise of him jumping off the bed. It lasted an hour and a half in the end, I never thought he’d get back to it so it was a pleasure to listen to.”

Since the family started fundraising, nearly £21,000 has been raised, and in October, Kelly will hear whether or not Corey can have the operation at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

Last week, SDR was discussed during Prime Minister’s Question Time.

Kelly said: “I was pleased that it was discussed. It was brought up by an MP from a different county and the Prime Minister has agreed to have a look at the NICE guidelines.

“It is good news because he’ll look at it as a whole and I can understand where he is coming from – a lot of operations are reversible but this is irreversible, but he is going to look into it so that is positive.”

To help boost funds for Corey, Swindon 105.5fm presenter Trevor Smith is organising a Go Casual For Corey day and is hoping to get as many businesses across the town involved as possible.

“The aim is to get people coming in to work in casual clothes and raising as much money as we can for Corey,” he said.

A provisional date of October 5 has been set and the radio presenters will hope to broadcast from as many businesses taking up the challenge as possible during the day.

For more information contact Trevor on 07590417705. For more on fundraising activities for Corey, visit http://thecoreycummings fund.org