Boy with rare condition gets brighter future (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Boy with rare condition gets brighter future

Connor Sanderson (20 months), who suffers from sacral agenesis, in a similar buggy to the one he is due to get soon. 30/6/5GENEROUS fundraisers are helping to provide a brighter future for a Salisbury tot born with a rare condition that left him with no knees or thighs.

Little Connor Sanderson has sacral agenesis, which effects the growth of the lower half of his body.

Only part of each leg has developed, which means he has no joints, knees or femurs, and faces a future where he is unable to walk or run.

The 20-month-old, of Gainsborough Close, Bemerton Heath, also has a hole in his heart, which he will undergo surgery to correct in about five years' time.

His mother, Sue, said: "Because Connor only has the lower part of his legs, he is not able to stand, walk or crawl, and he is very short compared with his twin sister, Charlie.

"Doctors thought at first they would have to amputate his legs but now we are hoping that, with the right physiotherapy and equipment, he will be alright.

"They said this was the first case like this they had seen in Salisbury, so we'll have to see how he develops as he gets older."

Kind-hearted fundraisers across Salisbury have already helped to get Connor motoring, by paying for a specialist buggy.

Children at Fisherton Manor Middle School raised £500 with a sponsored walk, and St John's Priory, in Wilton, has donated about £1,000 to Connor's fund.

Staff and regulars at the Silver Plough, in Pitton, and at the Dusthole, on Tollgate Road in Salisbury, have also added to the total.

"I can't believe how kind everyone has been," said Mrs Sanderson.

"This means Connor can have his own buggy and he loves being able to get around in it.

"It is wonderful that so many people who have heard about him want to help."

Mrs Sanderson said it would cost in the region of £20,000 to buy Connor the specialist wheelchair and prosthetic limbs he will need in the future.

"The fundraising has helped us to get a bathroom extension so that he will be able to use it," she said.

"Companies and people we have written to have been very generous in sending us things, and anything we get will go to help Connor in the future.

"We're not sure what he will be able to do - my dream is that, with the right prostheses, he will be able to walk, but it is very uncertain.

"But, thanks to the people who have helped us, he will have the best chance to live a normal life."