There will be a collection at Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final in Croke Park aimed at raising funds to help young Donegal supporter Paul Doherty to walk.

Here's a letter of explanation from brave Paul ...

Hello,
 
My name is Paul and I am 5 years old.  I started school three weeks ago.  I have something called spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.  This means that my legs and my arms are affected by cerebral palsy.  Cerebral Palsy makes my brain send too many messages to limbs and this makes the tone in my limbs increased making it not possible for me to walk.  Like every Mammy's Boy, I think am special.  I learned to sing first and then I learned to talk.  I was then able to tell Mammy that I wanted to walk.  I said that for as long as I can remember. 
 
I've had physio, occupational therapy, speech therapy, conductive education. I've had horrible Botox injections too.  Mammy kept asking the Botox doctor could she have some.  I'm not sure why.  I spent 3 weeks at the Peto Institute in Hungary and lots more medicines too.  My Mammy came across an operation in America called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) The operation involves cutting some of the nerves in my spinal cord that are misfiring the muscles in my leg. I've been assessed for this operation and have been accepted. The neurosurgeon (Dr. Park) in St. Louis Hospital, Missouri expects I will be able to walk with the aid of crutches/walker if I get the operation.
 
My Mammy has started a fund to raise the money I need for the operation.  Mammy says we need to raise €60,000.00.  We've already raised over €16,000.00 but we still have a long way to go.  Mammy has permits to collect at Croke Park on Sunday when we are playing Kerry in the final.    I'm so excited.  I can't wait.  I have a picture of me and all the Donegal team on my bedroom wall at home!

Mammy and her gang of collectors will be in Dublin this Sunday with their buckets wearing funny hats with wee legs and shoes around their necks and high vis vests.
We are on Facebook and Twitter too. You can follow us on www.facebook.com/mammyiwanttowalk

Please can you help.
Me and Mammy would be very grateful in whatever you can do or whatever you else you think would be beneficial to our cause. Mammy and Me want to make as many people as possible aware of what we doing and raise as much as we can between now and the final on Sunday 21st.  We wanted to let the people in the Kingdom know what we were doing. 
 
The capacity of Croke Park is 82,300. If each person gave One Euro, I could have his operation and the entire post operative physio program. !!!!

Paul Doherty
Aged 5½
Mammy I Want to Walk Fund

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