76212-14FOR little Charlie Dawson every day brings severe bouts of pain but now a complex operation could stop the attacks and allow him to spend more time out of a wheelchair.

The nine-year-old who lives at Moredon and who is a pupil at Robert Le Kyng school, suffers from a muscular condition so rare that he is one of only two people in the country with the disorder.

He has been diagnosed with Paroxysmal Non-Kinesogenic Choreoathetosis a condition which has twisted his skeleton and causes muscle fatigue.

It also triggers, on a typical day, up to 50 painful cramp-like seizures.

But now the Power Rangers' fan could stop having these cramps altogether if a deep brain stimulation operation is successful.

Last November, his mum, Jackie, 40, a teaching assistant at Hreod Parkway School, spotted the procedure being successfully carried out on the Channel Five programme Bodies Out of Control.

After meeting doctors, Charlie will have the operation at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford on June 1, filling his family with an enormous sense of relief.

"When I saw it I thought 'If it works for them it will work for my son'," said Mrs Dawson.

"I was prepared to fight for it but for the first time in his life we didn't have to fight as we got funding for the operation through the NHS.

"This is light at the end of the tunnel for us. There have been days when I have been screaming inside wishing somebody would help and now someone is."

The operation will involve drilling holes into his head and running electrodes from his brain to a pacemaker-style box in his body.

Electric pulses will then be triggered to prevent further attacks.

Until 18 months ago Charlie, whose condition is being overseen by paediatric experts at the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London, had been on medication to stop the cramps but the drugs caused severe side effects.

After the operation he should be able to spend most of his day out of a wheelchair but to prevent damage to the pacemaker-style box he will not be able to play contact sports or enjoy one of his favourite pastimes, rollercoaster rides.

And even though Charlie's condition will never be cured he is looking forward to a pain-fee life.

"I'm happy about the operation," he said.

"I hope that afterwards my attacks will stop forever."

Over the years Charlie's family, including his dad, Kevin, 43, a Honda worker, and sister Chaye, 14, have rallied round to help pay for the expensive equipment he needs.

In October 2000, Adver readers helped raise £750 to buy a specially adapted tricycle to help develop the youngster's strength and co-ordination.

Ben Payne