A FOUR-YEAR-OLD Rogiet girl is finally all set to undergo a life changing operation next month that will help her to walk unaided.

Ruby Atkins, the four-year-old daughter of Rachael and Antony Atkins, was born 10 weeks prematurely on Christmas Day, 2010.

She was diagnosed with bilateral cerebral palsy when she was two and a half-years-old, which restricts her mobility. Ruby currently relies on a kidwalk walking frame to help her move around.

Owed to numerous fundraising activities, including a cycle from Magor to Paris, the family and the local community have raised £43,000 for the toddler to undergo an operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR).

The operation involves opening up the spine and cutting nerves to reduce spasticity, and Ruby will require a year of intense physiotherapy following the operation.

Originally, Rugby was to undergo the operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London but the hospital’s waiting list grew dramatically following NHS England funding a three-year operation into the study this year.

With the operation having been initially delayed by six months, the family decided to switch Ruby to the waiting list at Bristol at the beginning of April.

On Wednesday, the family received the call they had been waiting for - that Ruby, who starts school at Rogiet Primary in September, will undergo the ground-breaking operation on July 27.

Her father, Antony, 38, said: “It’s what we’ve always aimed for and we’re very relieved to get to the next milestone.

“There’s been a huge demand for the operation and it’s great to have the peace of mind from two professionals from two different hospitals that the operation will benefit her.

“Ruby’s fiercely independent anyway and doesn’t want to be seen as different. She wants to do what other children do and she has a very busy life.

“She loves horse riding and swimming.

“This will release her from the restrictions of the disability and we hope she’ll become more mobile. It’s just such a great relief.”