CHRISTMAS has come early for the family of three-year-old Ollie Baker, whose life-changing operation will now be funded by the NHS.

Friends and relatives have been fundraising for Ollie, who has spastic diplegia, to have surgery privately, but the NHS will now fund more than 100 operations each year.

Spastic diplegia is a form of cerebral palsy, which means Ollie’s leg muscles are always tight and he needs a walker.

Ollie is due the surgery to improve his walk on December 5.

Mother Carol, of Lyneham, said the money raised – more than £35,000 – will now go towards giving Ollie the best aftercare following his operation.

She said: “It’s wonderful; it’s the best Christmas present I could have.

“I have made sure people are aware the fundraising they have done will not be unused.

“This means we can give him the best possible aftercare and physiotherapy to build his strength.”

The first four months of treatment are expected to cost about £7,500. Afterwards, Ollie is likely to need three physio sessions a week, at £150 each.

Despite the limited number of operations available on the NHS, his mother said nobody on the waiting list had wanted to have the operation before Christmas.

She said: “It came as a great shock. I know the NHS gets some slating, but it’s come out on our side.”

Ollie’s operation is expected to take four to five hours and he will spend about three weeks in hospital afterwards.

He celebrates his fourth birthday on December 11 and is scheduled to return home on Boxing Day, but Mrs Baker hopes he will be allowed home for Christmas.

In a hectic year of fundraising, Whitehall Garden Centre donated ice skating profits last November, Goatacre cricket club groundsmen toured first class cricket grounds in March and Wiltshire Council’s sports development officer, Alex Muse, completed a ten-hour bike ride at County Hall in Trowbridge.