A BRAVE five-year-old has an extra reason to smile after being told he does not need another operation on his legs.

Heathfield Primary School pupil Adam Oomer is now well enough to play football after undergoing life-changing surgery in the USA last summer.

He was previously unable to walk without a frame, and a doctor at the hospital where he had his surgery was so impressed with Adam’s recovery that he has told him that he does not need to return for more treatment.

Alyha Oomer, Adam’s mother, from Morris Green, said: “It is lovely to see Adam walk flat-footed.

“The inward rotation seems to have vanished, spasticity is eliminated and his balance and co-ordination have improved immensely.

“He is a lot happier and it’s lovely to see him get involved in activities he was unable to do before.”

She said her son is now attending weekly physiotherapy, swimming and horse riding lessons at Landlords Farm Equestrian Centre in Wigan thanks to a funding from The Phoenix Children’s Foundation, a charity.

He is now playing football — a sport he used to dream of playing — and has had success in horse riding by coming fourth in a Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) regional event, despite only taking up the hobby last year.

Adam met footballers Phil Neville and Rio Ferdinand while playing football with Cerebral Palsy Sport England and Wales at Bowden Cricket Club in Altrincham earlier this month.

The youngster was diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy when he was just 17 months old. He was only able to walk on his tiptoes and often fell because of problems with his balance and coordination.

But readers of The Bolton News, along with friends and family of Adam, raised more than £45,000 to fund a four-hour selective dorsal rhizotomy operation at St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri last July. He used to cry because of the pain in his legs and was previously unable to ride a bike or play football with his brothers Zayan and Yousuf.

Mr and Mrs Oomer said Adam’s progress would not have been possible without the doctors’ help and the support of Bolton people.