A DEVOTED mum is celebrating a major breakthrough in her campaign to help her little boy take his first steps.

Surgeons at the world-famous Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children have agreed to perform life-changing surgery on twoyear- old James Mills.

Now mum Vicki, 28, of Hythe, is hoping her son will be walking in time for his third birthday.

“It’s been so emotional and I get tears in my eyes every time I think about it, which is a lot,” she said.

But Vicki is still waiting to hear if the surgery and a follow-up course of physiotherapy will be funded by the NHS.

James was born with cerebral palsy and is unable to take a single step without help.

He needs a procedure known as Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), which can boost mobility by cutting the faulty nerves responsible for muscle rigidity.

Earlier this year, Vicki launched a £50,000 appeal after being warned the operation was not available on the NHS.

She has since been told that the NHS will carry out 100 (SDR) procedures a year, but a decision on whether James will qualify for funding is unlikely to be taken for several months.

Well-wishers have vowed to carry on raising money in case the family has to pay for the treatment themselves.

Vicki confirmed that James had been accepted by Great Ormond Street – and revealed that she had netted £2,000 herself by sacrificing her waist-length hair in a sponsored head shave.

But Vicki’s crowning glory will not go to waste.

Her lost locks will be used to make wigs for children who have lost their own hair as a result of the treatment they are receiving for cancer.

• Anyone wishing to support the fundraising appeal can go online and visit justgiving.com/jameswtw.