A pioneering US surgeon could change 12-year-old Dana Johnston’s life – if she can find the money, writes Jeff Kuntz...

Dana has had a lifelong battle with cerebral palsy and has never let the condition get the best of her.

But after years of treatment and dozens of flights to Budapest for intensive physiotherapy, Dana’s condition worsened.

Last year the Johnstons found hope in a surgical technique perfected by neurosurgeon Dr TS Park of St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri in the US.

But the “miracle” comes at a price of £60,000 for the operation, travel and expenses.

Dana’s parents launched a fundraising campaign and are planning events including a street party in May, a 10k run and Summer Ball in June, and others.

Dana said her condition was not painful, but she had to wear leg splints and needed help with activities that many take for granted.

Dana had spastic diplegia diagnosed, in which over-active nerves cause arm and leg muscles to tighten and impede move and balance.

The year 8 student at Cheam High School, said: “I walk with tripod sticks at home and use a wheelchair for outside and school. I can’t do everything I want to do and it makes me sad.”

Dana’s father Glen said: “You want to be able to take your child’s pain away but I can’t. That’s hard.

“A friend from Hampshire told us they’d taken their son to the US for SDR surgery. It’s not simply offered in the UK. It’s kind of a miracle – their boy went from strength to strength. Before the operation, he couldn’t move his ankles. Afterwards he put his feet down for the first time.”

Dr Park has performed more than 1,000 SDR procedures with a 100 per cent success in permanently easing effects of cerebral palsy.

A donations website is under construction, but community members can get involved by emailing danaswalktothestars@gmail.com.