LESS than four months ago Adam Oomer could barely walk — but now he his learning to ride a horse.

The five-year-old’s recovery has been boosted by a charity grant to fund horse riding sessions.

Adam, from Morris Green, has received enough money to fund a year’s worth of riding lessons from The Phoenix Children’s Foundation.

Weekly riding sessions will build up Adam’s strength after he underwent a fourhour operation in the USA in July to allow him to walk normally.

The operation, called selective dorsal rhizotomy, coupled with surgery to have his tendons lengthened, was intended to relieve the limited motion in his joints. He was diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy when he was 18 months old and could only walk on his tip toes.

Now Adam will be having horse riding sessions at Landlords Farm Equestrian Centre in Dicconson Lane, Westhoughton . Alyha Oomer, Adam’s mother, said: “Adam did a horse riding taster session and he loved it. He is going to have lessons every Saturday. Adam is improving every day. He seems to be getting faster. He seems really happy. Every day he is improving.”

Adam, a Heathfield Primary School pupil, tried out horse riding for the first time with his brothers Zayan, aged six, and Yousuf, aged three.

He underwent the lifechanging operation at the St Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri, after his parents and family and friends rallied round to raise more than £45,000 in seven months. The operation is available in England but is not offered automatically by the NHS