A FUND has been set up to raise £60,000 for a Furness boy to undergo life-changing surgery.

Scott and Lianne Morgan, from Ulverston, want to raise the funds for their nine-year-old son Joe to have the operation which is not funded by the NHS. It will help ease his crippling cerebral palsy which has prevented him from ever walking.

Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) is an expensive treatment that Mrs Morgan says would give Joe a new lease of life an enable him to achieve his dream of playing football with his friends.

"It will allow him to become more independent," she said. "He can learn to walk and be pain free.

"There's nothing to lose with having the surgery. He will be able to live a much more normal life.

"He will always have cerebral palsy but this will let him do what he wants. He wants to play football – the biggest achievement would be watching him stand up and kick a ball, but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves."

Joe was born two-and-a-half weeks premature at Furness General Hospital, Barrow, but it was not until he was nine months old that his condition was diagnosed.

All four of his limbs are affected and he spends most of his time in a wheelchair. Joe, who attends Ulverston's Sandside Lodge School, is doubly incontinent and requires round-the-clock care. Mrs Morgan said the older he gets the more difficult it gets for her and her husband.

"He hardly sleeps – we have to comfort him through the night – and now he's bigger we can hardly lift him.

"We've had to treat him like a nine-month-old baby and he's nine now and it's just become increasingly difficult.

"I worry about things like what if there's a fire. I wouldn't be able to get him out of the house."

To support the fundraiser, visit http://just4children.org/children-helped2017/joes-first-steps/ or text JOES71£5 to 70070.