An eight-year-old Ilkley boy has the opportunity to receive life-changing surgery in January – if his family can raise more than £40,000 to send him to America.

Football-mad Ben Smithson was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was just two after his parents noticed something was wrong, although initially they were told it was simply delayed development.

But now the youngster has been given the opportunity to undergo a major operation in an attempt to help him fully find his feet and walk independently.

Ben, who goes to All Saints Primary school in Ilkley, has been accepted by a surgery in St Louis, in Missouri, in the USA, for a procedure known as Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) in January.

However, it will cost his family £45,000 to send him across the Atlantic Ocean for a month and pay for the operation and the physiotherapy, which then follows.

His family has started its fund-raising efforts knowing they have little more than six months to reach their target and have started setting up a host of events across west Yorkshire to help realise the money.

And Ben is looking forward to a vast improvement in his life if the operation proves to be a success.

“I’m very nervous,” said Ben who plays wheelchair basketball with the Leeds Spiders team.

“I haven’t had an operation apart from when I had treatment on my eye.

“We have to raise a lot of money for it. It’s a very big operation.”

At the moment, Ben needs his sticks and a walker to help him walk, although he can manage a few steps unaided.

But his father, Damian, says the quality of life the operation will give Ben makes the price of the surgery worthwhile.

“It’s about giving Ben his independence,” he said. “He uses his sticks mainly and sometimes his K-walker from day-to-day.

“But as he gets older and moves on to grammar school, and university and the rest of his life, he’ll need that independence.

“At the moment just walking down to the shops or taking Ben out in his wheelchair means we have to plan everything ahead.

“It’s a big amount we need to raise. It all has to be provided by self-funding. We’ve spoken to our doctor in the UK who looks after Ben and he’s aware of everything in the US. All operations carry some risk but the success rate is really high.

“But it will be beneficial on every level and that’s our aim for Ben.”

Mr Smithson said the family realised surgery was available in America for Ben after seeing a similar story on television and getting in touch with the family who enjoyed success for their child who can now walk completely unaided.

Now they are hoping for the same outcome. Simply put, Cerebral Palsy means the brain is not sending messages correctly to the muscles in Ben’s legs via his nerves, to enable him to walk properly.

The groundbreaking procedure in America means surgeons hope to isolate those nerves which are not working properly and put them out of action meaning the only information sent to Ben’s muscles through the spinal cord is correct.

“The surgeon will look into his back and test all the nerves that send signals from the brain,” Mr Smithson said.

“With Cerebral Palsy, the nerves are not all working properly.

“Those that are tested and not working properly will be cut so the only ones left are giving the right signals are left behind.

“Because they are sending the right signals, they are telling you how to walk properly and then hopefully the body and the brain can adapt to those messages.

“It sounds very simple, but it’s a very difficult operation, especially with the spinal cord involved.”

The family has set up a website, www.benswishtowalk.co.uk to help with the fund-raising.

The Smithsons will keep a running total of their fund-raising efforts on the site, while Ben will also contribute to a blog explaining life with Cerebral Palsy through the eyes of an eight-year-old.

Among the events planned by the Smithsons is an 80s night, a ‘wear something blue for Ben day’ and an auction, which has already seen them receive a signed Michael Owen shirt to sell.

Family and friends are already becoming heavily involved in the fund-raising efforts with sponsored slimming, a fishing competition, a sponsored cycle ride and even the Three Peaks Challenge among the proposed ideas.

l If you want to help raise money for Ben’s trip to America for surgery, go to www.benswishtowalk.co.uk