A LEADING housebuilder has stepped in with £1, 000 for an appeal to help a four-year-old Keighley walk.

Ryan Weatherall, who has cerebral palsy, has been named a Community Champion by Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire.

This is entitled the Riddlesden boy to £1,000 towards the cost of a complex operation to help him walk.

Ryan’s cerebral palsy affects his legs and makes muscles permanently tight, making walking very difficult and running impossible.

The operation – selective dorsal rhizotomy – can be performed at Leeds Children’s Hospital but without NHS funding will cost the family £40,000.

Ryan’s mother Carla Weatherall said: “So far we have raised £14,000 towards Ryan’s operation, which, along with physiotherapy, will allow him to walk without pain.

“We are thrilled to be receiving this generous donation from Persimmon Homes which takes us one step closer to our fundraising target.

“We hope that Ryan will be able to have the operation this coming July prior to starting full-time school in September. This donation from Persimmon has helped us immensely."

Simon Whalley, sales and marketing director at Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire, said the company was delighted to be able to hand over the money to Ryan Weatherall for his mission to walk.

He said: “The family has worked so hard in raising money through bucket collections, raffles, a school nativity and more.

“As a company, we are committed to giving something back to the towns and cities in which we build, and this is another example of that.

“If people were unsuccessful last month, we urge them to visit the Persimmon Homes website and to try again and hopefully they will become our next Community Champion.”

Anyone who wishes to apply for Community Champions funding should visit persimmonhomes.com/charity.

Ryan’s parents Carla, a marketing and communications officer with the National Trust, and Gordon, launched their appeal, entitled Ryan’s Wish To Walk, in autumn of last year.

Ryan was born nine weeks premature just before Christmas 2012, at Airedale General Hospital, weighing only 4lbs 7oz.

He spent four weeks in the neonatal unit, with the initial 24 hours in intensive care.

Cerebral palsy was diagnosed after two-and-a-half years, but rain across his parents suspected before then that something was wrong.

An assessment confirmed he had Spastic Diplegia, a type of cerebral palsy characterised by tense muscles in the lower limbs.

The family was told that Ryan would be suitable for surgery known as Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), which involves cutting some of the damaged nerves in the lower spine. But the operation is not available on the NHS.

Visit ryanswishtowalk.com to find out how to support the appeal.