Steel boss Glen Tamplin made the stunning gesture to complete family's fundraising efforts to help lad with cerebral palsy
SMILING from ear to ear, Harry Parker takes some of his first steps since a life-changing operation . . . paid for by a total stranger.
Harry, seven, has a rare form of cerebral palsy. He faced life in a wheelchair unless his family could find £75,000 for a crucial op on his spine to let him walk.
But in a remarkable act of kindness, steel firm boss Glenn Tamplin gifted the family £45,000 to complete their fundraising efforts.
Thanks to that stunning gesture, footie-mad Harry can look forward to having a kickabout with his dad and dreams of emulating his hero — Spurs and England star Harry Kane.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, the brave youngster said: “I always wanted to play football with Daddy but haven’t been able to.
“A kind stranger turned my life around and now he’s a friend of all my family. Now I can stand and walk, I want to kick a ball with all my friends. One day I’d love to be like Harry Kane.”
Glenn, 45, pictured with Harry, added: “It chokes me up that Harry is so grateful. It broke my heart when I saw him in a wheelchair.
“I have a boy his age and it made me think what I would do for him.
“Hopefully I’ve given him a real chance to live a happier life.” Harry’s parents Glen and Danielle, from Cheshunt, Herts, were devastated when doctors diagnosed Harry with cerebral palsy aged 16 months.
Danielle, 31, who is Harry’s full-time carer, trawled NHS hospitals for physio sessions and bi-annual botox injections in his calves to keep his muscles supple.
She said: “The worst thing was that Harry was in constant pain. He would wake up in the night in agony and we’d have to give him massages.
It was heartbreaking. He loves football and has posters of players on his walls, so we know he was itching to play. But there was nothing we could do. Harry knew he was different to his friends but it was hard to tell him why.”
A glimmer of hope came when doctors said a selective dorsal rhizotomy could let Harry walk.
But as he prepared for the op, they were told the NHS could no longer fund it — and they would have to stump up £75,000.
They were also told Harry would be wheelchair-bound within years if he didn’t have the surgery.
Recruitment worker Glen, also 31, said: “That made it a race against time. We started fundraising like crazy — quizzes, sponsored walks, abseiling, you name it. People were so generous but £75,000 was a lot of money and we were a long way off.”
Last July, Harry was a mascot at a local football match at Waltham Abbey, Herts.
Glenn, a father of five and the owner of non-league side Billericay Town, was in the crowd.
He said: “Seeing Harry set off something in me. I saw his family were fundraising. They told me about his plight and I said I would like to offer them £5,000. I took their contact details and for the next month, I couldn’t get him out of my head.
“So I called his dad and said I wanted to pay the remainder.”
Dad Glen added: “I just broke down in tears. Glenn told me he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Harry and that he deserved a chance. We were both crying.”
Harry underwent a seven-hour operation on his lower spinal cord at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital three weeks ago.
And after intense physio Harry, who has a sister Mia, ten, was able to walk for the first time.
Glen said: “As soon as he started walking for the first time with the help of support, Harry let out a huge smile. It was such an emotional moment.”
Harry went home on Thursday for the first time following the op. He can walk with the aid of a frame and doctors think he might walk unaided in just six months.
And Glen, a Spurs fan, hopes Harry will be able to play football within a year.
He said: “Playing football with your son is the dream for any dad. I thought that would never be possible but thanks to Glenn, it is.”
Glenn, who has named a stand after Harry at Billericay Town’s stadium, said: “It’s the best money I have ever spent.
“Harry’s smile was worth hundreds of times more than the money I stumped up.”