Brave Perthshire youngster Jack McNaughton is off to Slovakia in what may be the “final piece in the puzzle” in his cerebral palsy treatment.
His fortnight-long trip, where he will work with a team of specialists for hours each day, has been given a huge financial boost, believed to be about £5,000, from the Mary Leishman Foundation.
Trustees will hand over the cheque to Jack later this month on what will be the P2 pupil’s sixth birthday.
Shortly afterwards, Jack, along with dad Graham, will leave the family home in Almondbank for Slovakia in the latest stage of his treatment for spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Jack was one of the first children in Scotland to undergo pioneering treatment in the US. After £40,000 was raised, Jack travelled to Missouri to meet Dr TS Park.
The surgeon carried out selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery to help Jack who was in constant pain and unable to walk and bring his dreams of walking unaided or even taking to the ski slopes a little closer.
Since then the courageous little battler has worked hard or, as proud mum Stacy put it, “worked his wee socks off”.
Last August he gave her the best birthday present when, only 18 months after his groundbreaking surgery, he walked through the gates on his first day at Luncarty Primary.
Since then he has continued to progress, standing unaided for a count of 32.
“The general rule of cystic fibrosis is that things are going to take him four to five times longer,” Stacy said. “He is still walking with his crutches, and his confidence is growing.”
Stacy said she was “blown away”, delighted and surprised by the generous donation from the foundation which will go towards Jack’s treatment in a hyperbaric chamber.
“With Jack we are always venturing into the unknown,” she continued.
“In Slovakia he will be given several different treatments, but the main one will be hyperbaric oxygen treatment.”
Since his operation, some of the youngster’s nerves have been “asleep”.
Stacy explained waking them is a “very slow process” but can be stimulated by this treatment.
“I am really excited and feel this could be just the final piece of the puzzle for him,” she said.
He will undergo 10 hours in the chamber most commonly used to treat divers suffering from the bends but normally patients will start to see the difference after double that time, meaning the family is looking to return to Slovakia just after Christmas.