A LITTLE Gambian boy who came to Britain a year ago to have a life-saving operation — thanks to a local fundraising campaign — is doing 'exceptionally well.'

Christine Pleydell from Drewsteignton, who spearheaded the campaign, has just returned from the Gambia to see Pa Modou and his family and reports that he is looking wonderful and healthy and has just started school.

The seven-year-old returned to his country in February, two months after a successful hole-in-the-heart operation in Bristol Children's Hospital.

This is the first time Mrs Pleydell has seen Pa Modou since then and she said he is a different person.

'He is so full of energy and has grown so much,' she said.

The Drewsteignton resident first became friends with Pa Modou's family whilst holidaying in the Gambian. She began fundraising early last year to bring him to Britain after learning that he had a hole-in-the-heart.

She said the little boy could not get this sort of treatment in the Gambian and he would have died had he not come to Britain.

Mrs Pleydell said although there was no guarantee she could raise the total £20,000 needed to fund the operation, the support of the people in the Okehampton area had been 'overwhelming.'

'Everyone was fantastic,' she said. 'I could not have done it without the support and help from people of Okehampton.

'We always remember a £5 donation in a card with a note saying "for the little boy in Africa". People gave what they could afford and I am so grateful for that.'

Help was also received from the Gambian community in Bristol and in the end the fundraisers found they did not need quite as much money — around £12,000 — because the surgeon and doctor gave their services free of charge.

Mrs Pleydell said one year on, Pa Modou was no longer restricted in what he could do.

'Before he was limited in what he could do because he was lacking in oxygen but now there is no stopping him,' she added.

'We noticed as soon as New Years Eve. What a difference the operation had made because he just kept dancing — which is what Gambians like to do anyway — but he would not have been able to do that before.

'He's got so much energy his mum Therese does not know what to do with him.'

Pa Modou picked up quite a bit of English when he was in the UK and Mrs Pleydell said he asked her for a cup of tea and cornflakes when she saw him.

'He loved these two things and it shows he has not forgotten all about his trip to England,' she said.

'When he can speak more English, I hope to ask him what else he remembers because, apart from the nasty bit in hospital, he really enjoyed himself and he especially loved travelling on the escalators and the London Underground.

'This really is a story with a happy ending.'