A Scots teenager left in a wheelchair after battling five deadly brain tumours is set to undergo an operation which could see him walk again.
Kieran Crighton, 15, was diagnosed with five tumours on his brain in 2018 when he was just 12.
The schoolboy underwent surgery to remove the most aggressive tumours followed by gruelling chemotherapy and radio therapy to shrink the rest.
However the brain surgery and follow-up treatments were so severe that Kieran was left unable to walk, talk or eat for months afterwards.
While Kieran has regained the ability to speak and swallow, he has been left almost completely confined to a wheelchair after one of his legs was left at a 40 degree angle.
In 2019, doctors told Kieran and mum Senga, of Kilwinning, that his best chance at walking again was an operation to straighten his leg.
After 18 months of waiting, the teenager is due to undergo surgery today at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children’s – three years to the day he had brain surgery to remove the tumours.
Senga, 51, said she was hopeful. She said: “He’s been through so much already today is the day he had his tumour removal surgery exactly three years ago.
“They will be cutting through his thigh bone then tilting it before putting a plate in and then we hope for the best.”
Senga says after everything he has already been through she is nervous about the outcome of the operation. She said: “I’m a bit nervous as it could make it a lot worse and any flexibility he has he might lose.
I’m praying for a good outcome. Hopefully with hard work he can get up on his feet, even with an aid.”
Following today’s surgery Kieran, who also has autism, faces months of recovery time before medics will know if the operation has been a success.
Senga added: “It has to heal for six weeks in stookie (cast) then a leg brace. After that he will have intense physiotherapy, so it will be at least a couple of months to we see if it has been successful.”
The schoolboy is hoping to recover at home, aided by mum Senga and pet Shih Tzu Star, who is always by Kieran’s side and helps him work on his mobility.