A brave four-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who underwent a life-changing operation to help her walk has delighted her parents by wiggling her toes for the first time.

Orla Brash, who lives in Tylers Green, had an operation called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) at The Portland Hospital in London on Friday after her supporters managed to raise more than £80,000 to pay for it.

65 per cent of Orla’s nerves were cut during the three-hour operation to relieve the tightness in her legs that meant she could not previously walk unaided.

She was diagnosed with developing Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy when she was just two years old.

Orla’s mum Sue, who has tirelessly organised events through the charity Orla’s Own Steps for the past year to fund the treatment, said the operation went “really well” and she is on the road to recovery.

She said: “We are really pleased, there have been a couple of nights where she has been up and down – she is in a lot of pain. It was a bit scary to see but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

“You can see the difference in her body already. All the spasticity has gone – her legs used to be very rigid but now they are very loose now like a new-born baby.

“We now know what we need to work on and strengthen and it’s very interesting to see. She can wiggle her toes now, which is something she couldn’t do before. She is doing really well.”

The youngster is now out of bed and off her morphine drips and has been enjoying painting and playing with Play-Doh while she recovers.

Sue added: “She had her first physio session and they are going to take her down to the gym this afternoon. She has done really well but there is a hell of a lot of work to do now.”