A SCHOOLBOY who underwent pioneering surgery just three weeks ago is now walking ‘non-stop’ without aid indoors, his mother has said.

Five-year-old Thomas Brennan, whose spastic diplegic cerebral palsy left him in constant pain and often unable to walk more than a few steps at a time, went under the knife in St Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri, USA, on Tuesday, August 14.

His recovery continues to amaze medics and he is now able to walk freely without help or equipment.

From St Louis, his mother Jodie Bussey told The Northern Echo: “Thomas really is doing excellent. He is walking non-stop in the hotel now, though still building up the courage to do so outside.

“His strength is building every day, though he still has a very long way to go before returning to his full strength he was before the operation.”

Thomas, from Ushaw Moor, County Durham, who called his condition, also known as Little’s Disease, his “crazy legs”, travelled to the US following a six-month, £40,000 fundraising campaign.

His surgery, rare in the UK but more common in the US, involved cutting into his spine and severing a nerve, causing spasticity in his legs.

Miss Bussey continued: “His physio’s at the hospital where we still attend every weekday are overjoyed with his progress and say if he has achieved this much already, with the right work in six months we will be amazed.”

Thomas, his mother, his sister Eve and grandfather John Nelson are due to return home next week.

Once back in Ushaw Moor, Thomas, a pupil at the village’s St Joseph’s RC Primary School, faces up to six physiotherapy sessions a week for several months, followed by a gradual reduction in his treatment.

It is expected he will have to return to the US for a check-up in a year’s time.

Fundraising continues as more money is needed to pay for Thomas’ ongoing care.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/help-thomas-reach-the-moon-and-stars