The family of a brave Sidcup toddler with a rare genetic disease need to raise £100,000 for life-changing surgery so that their little boy can walk in the future.

Stanley Barrett, 4, was born with a rare debilitating condition called Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) which causes him to have an increased muscle tone and spasticity in his legs, making it extremely difficult for him to walk.

As this is a progressive degenerative condition, Stanley will face further complications down the line which could lead to him being wheelchair bound if he doesn't receive this drastic treatment.

Stanley's mum, Ruth Barrett, explained that before he turned two, Stanley's family noticed that he wasn't crawling and walking like other kids his age, prompting concern and a trip to the doctors.

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"He was a late developer, crawling late and walking late.

"We just knew something was wrong," she said.

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Stanley has difficulty walking due to his HSP

She said that he was only diagnosed with HSP last March after spending a number of months with doctors speculating that he had a range of other conditions.

"At first they thought it might be Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is worse than HSP so we were quite devastated.

"Growing up I knew two brothers who had that and they died quite young. For me, the doctors were giving me a time limit on his life," she said.

Fortunately, the test for Duchenne's had been negative which led to further speculation about his condition.

"Then after the test for that came back clear, we were told that he had cerebral palsy.

"But after an MRI for that came back clear, a further test found that he had HSP," said Ruth.

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Now, Ruth and her family are fundraising to bring Stanley to the US for special surgery aimed specifically towards those with this and similar conditions.

The surgery, if successful, will reduce the spasticity in Stanley's legs, giving him a fighting chance at being able to walk in the future, according to mum Ruth.

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She explained that the £100,000 will not only go towards the surgery costs, but to also fund a two-year intense physiotherapy course which is imperative the treatment as a whole.

"If this is successful, he will essentially have to learn to walk all over again.

"If you don’t do it, there’s no point in having this operation really," she said.

At the moment the fundraiser, which was set up last October, has raised more than £11,000 with donations continuing to pour in.

Ruth also told of how Stanley's local barber shop in Blackfen, Cut & Co, made a surprise heartwarming donation of £400 after hearing about the campaign.

"We were so surprised. They just said, 'Well he's one of us isn't he?' and gave us £400.

"We won't ever change barbers now", she joked.

Those wishing to make a donation to Stanley's fundraiser can do so here.