Eight-year-old cerebral palsy sufferer Kitty-Boo Cox, who cannot walk unaided, has been given the chance to dance in high heels like her big sister after being selected for an NHS trial.

The Charter School pupil, of Barrow Green, Chippenham, had not previously been eligible because the operation she needs wasn’t carried out by the NHS.

But she will have an MRI scan next month and surgeons in Bristol hope to give undertake the eight-hour operation before next summer. It involves opening up the bones of the spine to operate on the nerves to relieve the muscle stiffness that stops her walking. Mum Claire Winks said without it she might be in a wheelchair full-time in a few years.

The 37-year-old said: “It would be magical if Kitty could walk by herself but, more than anything else, I want her to be pain-free.

“She suffers with a lot of pain in her legs because of the muscles being stretched, as they haven’t grown but she has.”

When asked if she would like the operation, Kitty said yes, if it meant she could wear high heels like ten-year-old sister, Charlotte.

“She and Charlotte are very close and she wants to do what she can do,” said her mum. “At the moment she has to put my heels on her hands to make the clippity clop. She also loves to sing and dance, but has to dance on her knees.

“Her attitude will get her through life. She’s a cheeky little monkey and she’s constantly got a great big smile on her face.

She needs to raise £50,000 for her daughter’s aftercare, as the NHS is offering just one physiotherapy session a week. Kitty will need it every day. “I will fundraise until my last breath,” she said. “I hope the people of Chippenham will help my little girl. I just want her to have a normal life and go to her school disco.”

Kitty was born 11 weeks premature weighing just 2 lbs 14 oz. Her mum could not take her home for eight weeks, even then she weighed only 4lbs. She gave up her job as receptionist at Antony Rowe book printer in Chippenham to care for Kitty full-time when she was diagnosed at 13 months.

“I noticed she wasn’t reaching her milestones, she wasn’t rolling or sitting up,” she said. “My doctor said I was being a neurotic mother so I went over their head and made an appointment with the paediatrician at hospital. He took one look at her and diagnosed her with cerebral palsy.”

Donate to Kitty’s aftercare at www.justgiving.com/letsget kittywalking or call 07944 887933.