BARRY schoolgirl Niamh Hurn has won her battle for life-changing surgery after the NHS announced it will fund an operation to help her walk again.

Palmerston Primary pupil Niamh, age 9, suffers from hydrosyringomeylia - a blockage within the fluid canal in the spine resulting in a crushing of nerves – and is unable to walk without assistance.

Following a public campaign and fundraising appeal, Niamh will be one of the first children in Wales to undergo selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery funded by the NHS in Wales.

The schoolgirl needed surgery before she turned ten years of age in December for the best possible outcome.

Niamh’s mum Michelle Hurn, 36, and husband Chris, 35, heard the news on Monday, February 9 and are absolutely thrilled. Niamh's campaign for surgery - championed from the beginning by the Barry and District News - also inspired a wave of fundraising events throughout the town.

Michelle said: “I was in disbelief when I found out, we never expected Niamh to receive funding. The first thing I did was to call Chris as he was in work, then every other member of my family to share the great news.

“Niamh was so happy when I told her. She screamed yes and punched the air.

“This is going to give Niamh a better quality of life, just to see her run around and play with her sister will be fantastic - something we never thought would happen.

“Jazmin dotes on her sister and is really excited for Niamh to be able to play freely with her.

“Jazmin gets really upset and scared when Niamh falls and hurts herself.

“Niamh’s independence will be greatly increased. This is something that she struggles with at the moment. She doesn't like mum and dad to be helping her so much, she wants to do things for herself so this operation will make such a difference to her happiness."

The #HelpNiamhAchieve appeal was launched through the Tree of Hope charity to help the family raise around £40,000 for the operation which aims to help Niamh walk independently.

£16,647 has so far been raised through donations.

Tesco held a charity football match and a quiz night. The family staged a music night and raffle.

Headlands School in Penarth held Christmas fairs and craft making.

Elsa’s magical mascot donated their fee for turning on Cardiff’s Wellfield Road Christmas lights.

And COS customers recycled old toners with money going to Niamh’s fund and Ysgol St Curig held a wear your own clothes day.

Michelle said “We had quite a few donations after you printed Niamh’s story which was amazing.

“We had a brilliant Christmas. We were over the moon with how much we had managed to raise in such a short space of time. However, we were still anxious that time was not on our side.

“We have been so lucky and are thankful for all the warm wishes and support that we have received. People have really taking Niamh to their hearts and rallied round to help her. We find it really difficult to put into words just how much the support we have received means to us.

The money that has been raised can be used to give Niamh the best aftercare to optimise her recovery, and help her achieve the best outcome possible.”

The procedure, developed by a surgeon at the St Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri, involves removing bone from one vertebrae and making an incision in the spine to divide nerve roots that contribute to the spasticity.

The operation leads to more balance and enabling the patient to walk and around 2,000 children lead live active lives.

Michelle said they now had to discuss the operation and dates with Bristol Children’s Hospital.

“We have mixed emotions,” she said. “Whilst we are excited at the thought of Niamh being able to walk unaided and play like any other child, we are extremely worried and anxious about the long hard recovery.

“Niamh will need to spend three weeks in hospital where she will have intense physiotherapy. She then faces another year or more of intense physiotherapy at home to get her up on her feet.

“I would advise other parents to stay positive and never give up fighting. We have had a tremendous amount of support from our local MP Alun Cairns.”

Vale MP Alun Cairns said he was thrilled Niamh would get the much needed operation in the spring.

He said: “We have been working hard for several months to get the operation approved on the NHS.

“We were always hopeful that the NHS would fund the operation, but to get confirmation this week was such an emotional feeling. If the funding hadn’t been made available, I was considering running the London marathon to boost the coffers. The Hurn family are credit to the community – they have done an incredible amount of fundraising, and to see how happy the family were upon receiving the news is already a highlight of my year.”