A FAMILY from Wimborne are hoping that residents can each donate £1 towards a £65,000 procedure to help a three-year-old walk.

Little Jakob Sales, who lives with his twin brother, Eliott, mum, Line and dad, Ben, has a severe form of cerebral palsy which means he cannot stand and has to use a wheelchair outdoors to get around.

However, his parents heard about an operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy, only available in America, which would give Jakob the chance to put his feet flat on the ground and learn to walk.

His proud mum, Line, said: "When he was about two, we found out about this operation, but his doctor said that he wouldn't be suitable because of his level of spasticity.

"He got his trike, with the help of The National Children's Foundation, around his second birthday, which has helped with co-ordination, but it can't help him to walk.

"We have a physiotherapist on the NHS, who has seen children have the operation in America and they said that they thought it would benefit Jakob, but it is not available on the NHS, so we have to find the money ourselves."

Line says they have to raise £30,000 for the operation before they can book it and then the rest of the money is for pre and post-operation physiotherapy and any equipment he may need.

"Jakob is super happy. I think that the operation will help him because he is co-operative and he loves to play. In his mind, he's a normal three-year-old."

Patsy Hallmey of The National Children's Foundation, based on Christchurch Road, in Boscombe, said: "We are asking people to give £1, so children might give their pocket money, have a mufti day at school, or adults might have a dress-down day at work or a cake sale.

"People really can make a difference to Jakob's future. Previously we have bought him a trike to exercise his limbs, but he really needs this operation which could allow him to walk for the first time.

"However, the family can only book the date for the operation once we have raised the money."

For more information, go to Justgiving.com/jakobstrike