Harley: football’s my goal

AMERICAN dream: Harley Hesford needs funds for an operation in the US

Family launches £40,000 appeal
LITTLE Harley Hesford is hoping to make his dreams of playing football come true by raising £40,000 for a life-changing operation.

Eight-year-old Harley, from Failsworth, is a happy youngster with a passion for Manchester City, but has cerebral palsy and needs a frame or modified bike to get around.

Doctors in America have agreed to carry out an operation which will see him walk unaided only 12 months after surgery — as long as his family can raise £40,000 to cover medical and living costs while in the United States, as well as flights.

His family have now launched the Harley’s Quest appeal to raise the funds and grant him his dream of being able to play football with his pals.

Born premature at the Royal Oldham Hospital at only 26 weeks, Harley battled for survival for three months before he was allowed to go home.

Dad Paul Hesford (38) said: “While in hospital, he was given steroids to accelerate his lung growth but that meant him developing cerebral palsy.

“He was diagnosed with the condition at eight months when we saw that he was dragging his legs behind him as he attempted to crawl.

“But he’s a happy, healthy little boy and he doesn’t let his disability hold him back.”

Last year, Mr Hesford spotted a newspaper report about the Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) surgical procedure.

The operation involves cutting some of the abnormal sensory nerve fibres that enter the spinal chord.

The family found that the operation was carried out at a hospital in Wales, but doctors there rejected Harley as unsuitable for the procedure.

However, a friend of Mr Hesford’s told him about the operation being carried out in St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri, US.

On Monday, Mr Hesford learned that Harley had been approved for surgery.

The sales manager and father-of-five said: “It felt amazing, my stomach flipped and all these emotions rushed through me.

“It’s a big operation for a little boy but I’d kept Harley informed while I was researching it.

“When I told him the good news, Harley was smiling, waving his arms and said, ‘I’m going to America for my new legs’.”

The family have launched a website with details about the Harley’s Quest appeal and information about forthcoming fundraising events.

The money will cover the cost of the operation, further orthopaedic surgery, three weeks of intensive physiotherapy, and living costs.

Mr Hesford said: “He can’t wait for the day he can join in a football game at school.

“It’s my personal mission to get my son to walk and give him a better quality of life.

“Having seen other children who were wheelchair bound and the success they’ve had following the operation, I’m going to do the best for my boy.”

For more information and to make a donation , visit the website at www.harleysquest.moonfruit.com.