Radu is a young 15 year old boy from Romania. Soon after Radu’s birth his father left the family and shortly after Radu himself was abandoned by his then very young mother. He was placed by the authorities in the care of his grandparents who lived in Bucharest.

His grandparents soon realised that Radu was not developing at the same rate as other children of his age and they had him examined in hospital. The doctors reassured his grandparents that his lack of progress was due to the absence of his parents, particularly his mother.

Radu continued to have problems while walking and eventually he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. He was admitted to a local hospital for surgery to release the tendons in his legs. Unfortunately, the anesthetic wore off during surgery and the operation was aborted.

The apartment Radu and his grandparents lived in was destroyed by a fire and they moved to a house in a different area which was also burnt down. House fires are very common in Romania because of substandard electrical installation, burning candles if there is no electricity, open fires and a general lack of awareness of the danger of fire. The family moved to rural location several hundred kilometers from Bucharest, where they found an old house, which they renovated and where they currently live.

Soon after the fires, Radu suffered another loss, when an aunt he was close do died suddenly. In addition to his physical challenges Radu has been psychologically trraumatised by some of the events in his life.

In 2009 Radu attended Constanta Hospital where he was examined by two F.R.O.D.O. orthopaedic Surgeons from Bristol Children’s Hospital. They agreed than in order to effectively improve Radu’s walking ability he would need surgery followed by a supervised intensive physiotherapy programme – something unavailable in Romania.

The team from Bristol have agreed to operate on Radu in the UK and fundraising is ongoing so that this can happen.