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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Olivia Williams

Mum's wish for son who can't tell her he's in pain

A little boy's parents have one wish for their son who can't tell them when he is pain.

Joshua Egan, aged seven, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was around two-years-old after his family noticed he wasn't reaching the usual milestones.

Mum Donna Sumner said due to Joshua having a ventriculoperitoneal shunt - a thin plastic tube that helps drain extra fluid from the brain - fitted when he was younger, he was at high risk of being diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

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Joshua, who is under the care of neurosurgeons at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, is unable to walk and talk due to his cerebral palsy.

However, Donna is fundraising for an operation unavailable on the NHS for Joshua, which would vastly improve the schoolboy's pain levels and quality of life.

Speaking to the ECHO, Donna, from Preston said: "Joshua is a very happy little boy, but he wasn't meeting his milestones and with having a shunt he was high risk of having cerebral palsy anyway and so that is when they diagnosed it.

Joshua Egan, seven (Family handout)

"Obviously you don't realise until they get a but older how it is going to present because their can be mild forms of cerebral palsy and the quite severe cases.

"Joshua's is quite severe. He is grade five, they grade them from one to five.

"He can't walk and can't talk, he does communicate in terms of sound, he points and uses hand gestures.

"He does have his own way of communicating."

Donna said it is very difficult for the family to know when Joshua is in pain due to his condition and communication difficulties.

The seven-year-old also suffers with stiffness and involuntary movements, which he can't stop.

The mum-of-four said: "It is very difficult because he can't tell us when he is pain, it's kind of guessing work.

"He pulls a funny face and frowns, but you have got to kind of guess really."

The family are now raising money for an operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy Surgery (SDR) at Alder Hey, which involves cutting some of the nerves on the spinal cord that would vastly improve Joshua's pain levels and mobility.

But due to Joshua not being able to walk, he does not meet the criteria of receiving the operation on the NHS.

Joshua, who is described as a "really happy little boy" already has regular physiotherapy sessions and Botox injections which have not improved his quality of life.

However, Donna said the operation which has been recommended by Alder Hey Neurosurgical team "will vastly improve his quality of life in many aspects."

To donate to Joshua's GoFundMe page, please click here.

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