An eight-year-old boy will finally be able to have “the life that he deserves” after £40,000 was raised so he can undergo life-changing surgery.

Kaiden Freeman, from Badersfield, was born with cerebral palsy which limits control of the arms, legs and body and means he spends most of his time in a wheel chair.

But earlier this year, his family launched a fundraising campaign in bid to get him an operation that would change his life and now they have reached their target.

Eastern Daily Press: Kaiden Freeman, with mum Michell, dad Gavin and sister Alexi.Kaiden Freeman, with mum Michell, dad Gavin and sister Alexi. (Image: Archant)

Kaiden’s mum, Michelle Freeman, said the family are “overwhelmed” and they can’t wait to see what the future holds for their son - whose operation is set to go ahead in October.

She said: “It’s just amazing really. We didn’t expect to reach our target. So there have been a lot of tears. It really is life changing.

“Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who gave up their time or donated their hard-earned money to ensure our Kaiden has the life he deserves – to my brilliant family and friends, my exceptional colleagues, and everyone else who did what they could.

“Thank you, also, for helping us to raise awareness of this severe form of the cerebral palsy condition.

“There are so many others out there – just like Kaiden – who could benefit from this SDR surgery, and either don’t know of it or it’s not accessible to them due to financial constrictions, so please help us again in spreading the word.”

Eastern Daily Press: Kiaden Freeman, from Norwich, has cerebral palsy.Kiaden Freeman, from Norwich, has cerebral palsy. (Image: Archant)

The surgery Kaiden will undergo is Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), which involves cutting the nerve rootlets in the spinal cord that are sending abnormal signals to the muscles.

The operation should help to improve his range of motion and functional mobility, so he can live a more independent life.

Kaiden didn’t meet the right criteria for the operation to be funded by the NHS due to the severity of his cerebral palsy being too high.

This meant that Michelle and her family needed to fund the entire thing themselves, as well as all of the costs associated with Kaiden’s aftercare, including physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, strengthening therapy and specialist equipment.

This brought the total cost to £40,000.

Family and friends showed their support and donated whatever they could to Kaiden’s fundraising page which brought the amount raised on here to £11,130.

And Mrs Freeman’s colleagues at CarShop, where she works as a brand experience manager in Norwich, also got involved.

Hearing of his employee’s fundraising attempts for her son, CarShop’s CEO Nigel Hurley encouraged all stores to arrange their own fundraising events and activities with the promise that the retailer would match the total amount they raised.