WHEN he was born, at 26 weeks, Archie King weighed just 1lb 7.

Doctors had realised while she was pregnant that his mother, Stephanie, had a weak cervix. She was given an emergency stitch at 16 weeks, but knew that this wouldn't allow her to go anything like full term with her baby.

Archie spent the first 13 weeks of his life in hospital. It was a difficult time.

He almost died at eight weeks due to an obstruction in his bowel, and had to have emergency surgery.

Once she was allowed to take her first child home, Stephanie, from West End, thought that everything would be OK.

But as time went on, she became increasingly concerned that something was wrong.

"I expected his milestones to be delayed, but they were very delayed," says Stephanie, a hairdresser who also has a one-year-old boy in addition to Archie, who is now six.

"He didn't sit up until he was 14 months old. He walked late. I noticed that when he was in his Jumperoo, he never bounced on his left leg and his foot turned out. But because he was my first, I didn't really know any different."

Stephanie took Archie for physiotherapy and was told that he would get better once he started walking, but he didn't.

"He would walk and run in a very odd way," she says.

"He had his hands in the air and fell over constantly. He couldn't walk on uneven ground or in wellies.

"It was when he was around three that I thought something is definitely not right. I looked up his symptoms and cerebral palsy came up.

"He was sent for an MRI scan. It showed brain damage to the right side, which controls the left, and confirmed that he had cerebral palsy."

Cerebral palsy is the name for a group of lifelong conditions that affect movement and co-ordination, caused by a problem with the brain that occurs before, during or soon after birth.

Symptoms can include delays in reaching development milestones, seeming too stiff or too floppy, random, uncontrolled movements and walking on tip-toes.

"I was distraught," says Stephanie.

"I felt it should have been picked up earlier and he could have been having physio for all that time.

"He had speech delay as well, which was part of it.

"As he got older, his symptoms became worse. He tiptoe walks and can't put his feet down flat.

"The spasticity (muscle contraction) in his body has also got worse. "He has to wear a splint on his left leg. He has botox injections in his legs every three to four months, which take the spasticity out of his body for a bit.

"It works well but it wears off quite quickly."

Archie's family and friends have now launched a fundraising campaign, to raise £60,000, needed to pay for him to have life changing surgery to significantly relieve the symptoms of his cerebral palsy.

The treatment is selective dorsal rhizotomy, which involves cutting some of the nerve fibres that are responsible for spasticity.

Stephanie hopes Archie will be able to have the treatment in the UK, but he may have to travel to the USA for it, which will incur extra costs.

"As he gets older, the spasticity isn't going to get any better. He could have to walk on crutches. I think as he gets older he will start to get angry and upset about his condition.

"If he has the operation, it would permanently take the spasticity away, he would be able to walk from heel to toe and not have to have anymore botox, or splints, or orthopaedic surgery when he gets older.

"It is a shame that it isn't available on the NHS. We also don't know if we will be able to get it done in the UK, as the criteria here is quite strict, but I've contacted Dr Park in America, who devised the surgery, and he said Archie would really benefit from it, so we may go to him.

"There would be no more falling over, he would be able to dress himself, and there is evidence of it helping with speech.

"Having too much spasticity means everything is more of an effort. Archie is always the child who gets tired first, whether it's at soft play or colouring in.

"The older a child is when they have the operation, the less benefits there are, so we need to get it done as soon as possible.

"Archie is really intelligent. He can name all of the US presidents and tell you what they died of and when, he knows about the planets, the body, all sorts of things, but the physical side holds him back."

The family has already raised £2,000 and their friends have rallied round, organising sky dives, abseils, bingo nights and fun days.

"We have to raise the money as quickly as possible to that when we get a 'yes' for the surgery we can go ahead with it straight away," says Stephanie.

"We want him to be able to run around the football pitch like all his friends. He gets frustrated when his body won't do what he wants it to. We want to take that away and for him not to be in pain.

"We just want to give him the best life possible."

For more information and to make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/just4children/cpandmearchiesstory and search for CP & Me - Archie's Story on Facebook.