A YOUNGSTER is back from America after a life-changing operation which could eventually see him take his first steps.

Family, friends and even complete strangers helped raise the £60,000 needed to send four-year-old Ronnie Jacob, who has cerebral palsy, to St Louis, Missouri, for the surgery.

The Christopher Rawlings School pupil had a vertebrae and damaged nerves removed from his spine and is now back in Oxfordshire where he has started six weeks of intensive physiotherapy to build up muscle strength.

At present, Ronnie cannot stand independently and needs a frame to walk.

But just weeks after the operation, his mother Katie has already seen improvements in her son – he can take off his own socks for the first time and can cross his legs while sitting.

Mrs Jacob, of St Mary’s Road, Adderbury, near Banbury, said: “Already there is a massive difference in what he can do, although someone else would not notice things.

“His range of leg movement has increased and he managed to take his own sock off. I was so thrilled.”

Ronnie sees physiotherapists at Footsteps, in Warnborough, near Wallingford, five days a week for two hours a day and could need sessions for up to two years.

Mrs Jacob, a hairdresser, said: “He is doing really well and working hard. In four weeks he could sit normally.

“We do not know when he will take his first steps – that is a crystal ball scenario.

“There is a lot to do before then. It would be the ultimate aim.

“But the next thing is to try to get him to stand independently, and then walk with sticks.

“For us there is already a big difference, let alone what promise we have got in future to work hard towards.”

The family spent four weeks in the States and Mrs Jacob said the prospect of Ronnie undergoing surgery was terrifying for her and husband Andrew.

She added: “It was a tough first few days because he was in pain and he’s so young. He did not really understand.

“Then his spirits started to lift and he was awake more. He took it really well.

“After 10 days he did not complain at all when I moved him. They were a wonderful team looking after him.”

The operation cost £45,000 and the rest of the money will be used to pay for intensive physiotherapy for the foreseeable future.

Ronnie also had a second unexpected operation to correct a lazy eye.

Dad Andrew sold his pride and joy, a Ford Mustang Bumblebee, to raise £10,000, and a charitable trust donated the final £26,000 needed to reach the target.