A Croxley Green boy is one giant step closer to being able to walk after months of fundraising has exceeded the £80,000 needed to send him to America for a specialist operation.

Noah Collins, 4, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was born, uses a walking frame to help with his mobility.

The Yorke Mead Primary School pupil was accepted for a Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) operation in America last year, but his family needed to raise £80,000 to send him for the specialist surgery, which is a neurological procedure aimed at reducing tight and stiff muscle tone.

Fundraisers from across the south west Hertfordshire put on their thinking caps and came up with imaginative ways to Help Noah Walk.

In less than six months, the £80,000 required for the operation was not only matched, but exceeded.

His mother, Jeanette, said at first she had doubts that the family would be able to raise £80,000 at all, let alone in such a short period of time, but that the support of the community has been "phenomenal".

She said: "Friends of mine originally doubted that we would be able to raise the money at all, but to do it within six months is incredible. We never thought we’d achieve this goal so quickly.

"When we initially calculated the operation and aftercare, we stopped at £80,000 and we thought it would take us forever to get there."

The SDR surgery is available in the UK, but, as it is relatively new in this country, Mrs Collins said British doctors are more cautious to perform the procedure.

Noah, who is currently on medication which relaxes his muscles, will be having the operation at St Louis Children’s Hospital, in Missouri.

Mrs Collins said the family do not yet know whether Noah will need any additional procedures after the SDR surgery, but the fact that they have surpassed their fundraising target means he can get "the best of the best".

She said: "He might need to be re-assessed to see if he needs anymore surgery and there could be a number of things that we didn’t calculate for.

"But the fact that we have not only reached this target but exceeded it means we can get the best of the best aftercare for him."

Commenting on the £80,000 target being reached, Noah exclaimed: "We have got enough now."

Mrs Collins said there are still fundraisers planned and that her family in Scotland will be climbing Ben Nevis in May.

The family are intending to have the operation soon and are looking forward to Noah being one huge step closer to being able to walk.