Cycle ride will help Tyler Maxwell

Karen Newton raised more than £40,000 so her little boy could have an operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) - a procedure lasting four hours. It took place in 2012 and the aim was to improve Tyler’s muscle stiffness.

And in June, this year he underwent a second operation - a double hip operation because both hips had dislocated - and spent six weeks in a cast.

The young boy, who lives in Maxey, and has Spastic Diaplegic Cerebral Palsy, would suffer with agonising pains in his legs which his mother said would cause him to “wake up screaming”. If he not undergone the second operation, his hips would have eventually come out of the socket completely.

Already Tyler, eight, and Karen, have had amazing support from the local community but now Karen needs to raise further funds to pay for continued physiotherapy sessions to help Tyler get back to his normal self. Each two-hour session, which Tyler needs weekly, costs £95.

Despite the challenges he has faced so far, Tyler is still a happy little boy and on Wednesday went back to Northborough Primary School to join his classmates after a 14-week break.

A keen cyclist herself, Karen is organising a ‘Tylerthon’, which will take place on Saturday, September 24. There are eight, 25 or 50-mile courses to choose from, all starting from Willowbrook Farm in Helpston, Peterborough (PE6 7EL) at 9.15am.

There will be a family barbecue afterwards and the hope is that enough funds will be raised so Tyler can walk with his walking frame again.

To find out more or to sign up to the Tylerthon, visit https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/152178/Tylerthon. You can also visit www.tylermaxwell.org.