WE’VE done it! A Daily Echo-backed appeal has raised the £50,000 needed to fund a vital operation that will enable a Hampshire toddler to walk.

The fund has reached its target thanks to former Saints chairman Leon Crouch who came forward after reading his plight in the Daily Echo.

The millionaire businessman has agreed to meet half the cost of the surgery and expensive physiotherapy that will make it possible for three-year-old James Mills to take his first steps.

His mum Vicki, 29, of Hythe, said today: “It’s the best feeling ever.”

James suffers from cerebral palsy and needs an operation known as Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), which improves a patient’s mobility by cutting the faulty nerves responsible for muscle rigidity.

Vicki launched her appeal last year after discovering that the life-changing procedure was not available on the NHS.

Last month surgeons at the world-famous Great Ormond Street Hospital in London agreed to perform SDR on James next year.

Daily Echo:

Vicki had already raised more than £25,000 – enough to pay for the actual surgery – but she was suddenly faced with the daunting task of finding another £25,000 in just six months for the aftercare and physiotherapy.

Now Mr Crouch has come to the rescue by handing over £20,000 – on top of the £4,000 he gave a few weeks ago.

Vicki said: “He phoned me up and said he’d like to donate the rest of the money we needed. It’s a huge weight off my mind and I woke up today feeling a lot less stressed.

“Mr Crouch will always have a place in my heart – what a lovely gentleman. I will never forget what he has done for us.”

Looking back on the appeal she added: “It’s taken us 17 long, hard months to get £50,000 but we have finally done it.

“Words can’t express how happy I am right now. It’s been a massive roller-coaster ride but I can finally relax.”

Vicki also praised the Daily Echo for publicising the appeal and keeping it in the public eye.

She said: “The Echo got this in the media straight away and have been behind us from day one. Thank you so much for your help and support.”

Mr Crouch added: “Vicki, her family and friends have worked tirelessly and I wanted to help them reach their target.

“I feel privileged to be in a position to take some of the stresses of fundraising away from James’s parents, hopefully enabling them to focus purely on supporting James through the months ahead.

“I’m sure I join everyone that has donated to James’s appeal in wishing him and his family all the very best.”

Mr Crouch was chairman of Saints during its financial crisis in 2007-8 and kept the club alive by paying costs out of his own pocket.

In the New Forest he is best known as the founder of Lymington Precision Engineers, which was taken over this year in a deal worth nearly £46 million.

He now runs another Lymington-based company, Sea Talk Systems, which supplies equipment used in subsea telecommunications.