LIFE-changing surgery which has given an Oxford schoolboy the strength to walk will now be offered on the NHS.

The ‘soaring spirit’ of five-year-old Thomas Balmer has been helped by a complex and costly operation for his cerebral palsy, which has gifted him with the ability to walk and move more freely.

Parents of the Florence Park youngster fundraised tirelessly to pay for selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), and welcomed news that the NHS will now fund the operation for other children.

Thomas, who lives with twin brother Dylan and parents Nicci Brassey and Brian Balmer, previously relied on walking aids to move around.

His mum said she was ‘delighted’ that others could benefit from the surgery, which involves cutting nerves inside the spine to correct spasticity (amuscle stiffness).

The 45-year-old said: “It is so life-changing: it’s not just about the walking, it’s about feeling relaxed in your own body and free of the spasticity, which is so damaging.

“It is 10 months since Thomas’s operation, and we have a walker - an independent walker.

“It’s really hard to find the words to describe how that feels. The relief and the joy is just immense.

“He can see himself getting stronger and he is trying more things. His spirit is soaring.”

Thomas and Dylan, pupils at Comper Foundation Stage School in East Oxford, were born 10 weeks premature and each weighed less than three pounds.

At the age of two, Thomas was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a lifelong neurological condition that limits muscle movement.

Thomas’s parents feared he would be in a wheelchair by the time he was a teenager, and set up a campaign called Help Thomas 2 Dance to fund the £45,000 operation, plus £15,000 per subsequent year of physiotherapy.

A Facebook page documenting his progress is packed with beaming pictures showing his newfound strength - from standing to feed the ducks to navigating a climbing net alongside his twin.

He can now walk short distances unaided and Miss Brassey said he is playing outside with other children, able to brush his own teeth and will even have a go at playing football and catch.

The specialist teacher at Cheney School said: “It [the cerebral palsy] is so much more manageable now the spasticity has gone.

“Growth spurts used to fill me with dread because of the pain, but now I am less fearful of the future - we know he is going to make more progress.

“He is so much more open to life now and his confidence is increasing daily.

“There are possibilities and we know we have given him the best possible chance in life. There are no words for how that feels.”

An NHS report released last week revealed results of a trial in 2014, in which 140 children were given SDR and monitored.

The report noted there were ‘statistically significant improvements’ in children with cerebral palsy who had SDR compared to those who had not.

It stated the procedure will now be ‘routinely commissioned for the treatment of spasticity [muscle stiffness] in cerebral palsy mainly affecting the legs’.

There are strict criteria for those eligible, including an age range of three-nine years-old inclusive.

It will be available immediately in five hospitals including Great Ormond Street Hospital and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, where Thomas had his SDR.

Miss Brassey said there is some still hesitance about details of the NHS’s announcement, particularly with subsequent physiotherapy, which she said was ‘crucial’ to the operation’s success.

SDR was pioneered in America several decades ago, but is not yet widely offered in the UK.