A FAMILY is desperately trying to raise £70,000 to send their disabled son to America for a life-changing operation.

Leo Leyland was born 10 weeks premature and suffered a pre-birth brain haemorrhage which resulted in Hemiplegia cerebral palsy.

He is now aged three and mum Tarnia, 34, says her son has the chance of a better quality life with an operation in America.

They have raised more than £14,000 so far with a series of fund-raising efforts but they need more.

Tarnia, from Hastings, said: "Leo weighed just 2.2 pounds when he was born and we knew that it was going to be a long time in the special care baby unit.

"Leo was born in Chertsey in Surrey then transferred to Brighton's Trevor Mann Unit and then to the Conquest Hospital. "Having spent nine weeks in care, he was well enough to come home with us.

"It is amazing what can be done for you even when you are so small, delicate and translucent.

"He has surprised everyone with his progress. Intellectually, he is like any other child but he is delayed due to his prematurity.

"Unfortunately, due to the cuts in our NHS, Leo doesn’t get enough of the care we think he fully deserves that’s sufficient for his progress and getting equipment is very expensive.

"That is why we are fundraising to give our little boy the best possible chance in life to succeed."

Dad Stefan, 41, said that because of his Hemiplegia, Leo has high muscle tone in his leg and arm which results in a form of toe poking and closed fist.

There is a life-changing new pioneering operation that Leo can have called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) but the family said the NHS will not fund this and he will have go private.

Stefan said: "Children just like Leo have had this surgery with remarkable results and go on to live normal independent lives. Although cerebral palsy cannot be cured, SDR can change lives dramatically.

"Basically they take two vertebrae from his lower spine and send electrical pulses down each nerve. Once the muscle spasticity is located they just simply cut the nerve and place the vertebrae back into the body and that releases the high tone."

Leo attends nursery at St Pauls Academy School in St Leonards, and staff and pupils took part in a Big Breakfast and Queens birthday fun run event, raising £1300

In May Stefan took on The Great Outdoors Challenge, walking 225 miles over mountains from the west to east coast of Scotland, together with his father, brother and brother-in-law.

Friends of the family also ran this year’s Hastings Half Marathon to raise money for this cause."

You can find Leo's charity and donation page at treeofhope.org.uk/ or facebook.com/helpleotowalk