A MOTHER has put out a "desperate plea" for support while her son waits for an operation to enable him to give up his wheelchair.

Carol McGrath of Habberley, Kidderminster, is still waiting for an appointment with an NHS specialist and is struggling to raise money for private physiotherapy.

In despair last year after four years waiting for treatment to help Danny, 17, single mum Mrs McGrath started fund-raising to pay privately for an operation on his leg recommended by a Harley Street consultant.

He has barely been able to walk since being injured at the age of 12 when he fell off the back of a van during a childhood prank. He was in a coma for two months and suffers from paralysis on his right side.

She was then promised an NHS referral to an orthopaedic surgeon but says she is deeply concerned at the long wait at a time when her son wants to plan his future.

Mrs McGrath said: "I will have to start fund-raising again. I am getting desperate because of the expense of taking Danny to Birmingham for private physiotherapy.

"He wants to find employment but how can he go to interviews in a wheelchair? He wants the same chances as other boys of his age."

Mrs McGrath has been buoyed up by a promise from Stourport supporter Andy Rudge to include Danny's cause in the charities he backs in his first London Marathon run this April.

Bewdley publican Steve Eaton of the Wagon and Horses has also pledged a fund-raising evening on April 10 . A staunch Wolverhampton Wanderers fan, he is being sponsored to wear a West Bromwich Albion kit when the team's striker Lee Hughes visits to present a signed football and shirts.

Sponsor forms for Mr Rudge's marathon attempt are available from Mrs McGrath on 01299 864627 or 07940 235812.