THE life of a youngster has been made brighter thanks to life changing surgery in the United States, and his grandparents in Sheepwash. Over the last year, Anna and Buster Jones from the village have been raising money for their young grandson Jenson Tucker. Jenson was deprived of oxygen at birth, and at six months was diagnosed with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. Shortly after he was a year old he was also diagnosed with epilepsy. The couple raised over £65,000 so Jenson could travel to St Louis Children's Hospital in Missouri and have a selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) operation. The delicate operation involved cutting some of the sensory nerve fibres that come from the muscles and enter the spinal cord. The SDR procedure aimed to reduce spasms caused by Jenson's condition. It was hoped the operation would permanently reduce his spasticity, his sitting and standing postures would improve, his transitions between postures would be easier and faster, and his level of comfort would improve. Most crucially of all, it is hoped Jenson will be able to walk with a walker or crutches in the future. Jenson and his family, including mum and dad Carly and Joel and brother Freddie, flew out to the United States in June for an evaluation with Dr TS Park, who has helped to pioneer the surgery. Dr Park said Jenson was a special case, as he was not typical of children with cerebral palsy, having not been born prematurely like the majority of children with the condition. He validated the decision to travel to the USA for the operation, saying he felt Jenson would never have had the procedure in the UK. Jenson had his operation on June 26. Everything went to plan as hoped. Anna Jones said: 'Carly and Joel were very relieved to get the message that all was well, and Jenson was slowly coming round in the recovery room. 'After the operation it was essential that Jenson remained lying down for three days. 'The only way this was going to happen was with an epidural, which paralysed his lower body. It was a tough three days, and Jenson was not fond of all the wires attached to him. He did his best to remove them if you took your eye off him! 'Freddie wasn't allowed to see him as they don't like young children on the ward, unless they are patients, and we could tell they really missed each other. On day four the wires were all removed and Carly and Joel were shown how to lift him into his buggy.' For the next three weeks, Jenson had to go to the hospital every week day for more intense physiotherapy. Each day, he made small steps of progress. Before leaving to travel back to Britain, Jenson had one final consultation with Dr Park. Anna said: 'He was very pleased with Jenson's progress — they tested him and said he was 100% free from spasticity. We were all over the moon. The difference in his legs is amazing. 'They can now swing freely, something that Jenson has never experienced before, and he was highly amused by this the first time he found he could do it. Another huge difference is his feet. The drawback from the surgery is that once the spasticity is removed from the legs, they are very weak. This is why he has to have intensive physio for the next two years to help build the muscles up to support his weight, enabling him to walk. 'He still has a long way to go, but all the signs are very good and Dr Park was confident he'd get there. He's a determined little fella, so we're sure he'll do it too.' Anna and Buster expressed thanks to everyone who supported their campaign. Anna said: 'We want to thank the huge number of people that made this amazing journey we have been on possible. 'Not only financially in helping to raise well over £65,000 but also the moral support — we have had hundreds of messages being passed onto us, via Facebook, family, friends, and other ways. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts – we couldn't have done it without you.'