A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy is just weeks away from being able to fulfil his wish of being able to play football with his friends.

Adam Oomer and his family will be flying to St Louis in America today so he can undergo a life-changing operation.

The Heathfield Primary School pupil has to walk on his tip-toes and often falls due to balance and co-ordination problems caused by diplegic cerebral palsy.

It is hoped the five-hour selective dorsal rhizotomy operation at St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri will help him to walk without a frame and without standing on his tip-toes.

His parents, Alyha and Mohammed Oomer, from Morris Green, faced a race against time to raise £50,000 to pay for the operation, accommodation and travel costs.

They spent months fundraising and raised £45,000, but are continuing to fund raise to cover the cost of weekly physio sessions for when he returns.

Adam will not be able to have physio on the NHS because the operation is being carried out in the USA.

Mrs Oomer said: “Adam is really excited. He and my eldest son keep waking up and saying how many more school days they have until they go and have no more school. Adam is really, really pleased. Going from other children who have had the operation, Adam will definitely be on his feet by the time we get home.”

She said she was overwhelmed by the support they had received and thanked everyone who had helped.

Adam’s parents hope he will be fit again in time for school in September.

The family, including Adam’s brothers, who are aged three and six, will spend three weeks in the USA.

Adam will have an assessment on Monday ahead of the operation next Thursday, with further further on his heel on July 11.

Adam has the same condition as Ethan Pope, the seven-year- old boy from Great Lever who underwent surgery in the same American hospital last July. Frost Foundation, a Radcliffe-based charity, will provide Adam with a treadmill to help him get back on his feet after the surgery.

Donations can be given via helpadam.org.uk.