THE parents of a teenager who took his first unaided steps at the age of 11 have praised the team of carers and staff who have helped him walk.

Oliver Cundall, 13, who lives in Westow with his parents Rebecca and James, has Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, a very rare condition which causes developmental delays and means he is non-verbal and has low muscle tone in his limbs.

Rebecca said: “When Oliver was first born they said there would be developmental delay and I said, ‘oh well, if he doesn’t walk until he’s two or five, no worries’.”

But as the years passed by, and as countless attempts to support Oliver with his mobility failed, Rebecca said she stopped hoping that her son would ever be able to walk.

Everything changed when a friend recommended that Rebecca contact neurological physiotherapist Charlotte Foxton and her colleague Lynn Byas, a soft tissue therapist, of Physio Function in Fulford, who suggested that Oliver should move away from using walking frames and supports and focus on his own strength, posture and balance.

Just over a year after he started visiting the practice, Rebecca received a phone call from Oliver’s teacher at Applefields School in York, telling her Oliver had started to walk.

“I didn’t believe it, I was told by his teacher who rang me up in the office at work and said Oliver has walked unsupported, completely on his own.

“I knew it was big progress, but I didn’t believe he wasn’t hanging on to a finger or a piece of string or something.”

Charlotte said that equally life changing has been the fact that Oliver is able to understand more of what is said to him. “What has amazed us is his ability to now listen and understand us more. Rather than sit and play with his fingers like he used to do, he will listen to our conversation and clearly understands several words.

“The best thing about him being able to walk by himself is the fact that he now has more opportunity to make more obvious choices about what he wants to do. He doesn’t have the ability to speak and tell us what he wants but he can indicate this himself now, for example going to the door if he wants to go outside.

“Olly is like a miracle to me. I always knew he would do well but he’s done brilliantly.”

Rebecca said: “We would like to express our gratitude to Oliver’s class teacher Zsuzsi Gotts and the amazing team of teaching assistants, therapists and all the staff at Applefields School, who work tirelessly to progress not only Oliver’s development but that of all the children in their care. They achieve outstanding results, which often go unsung.”

Rebecca, who runs the business behind Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland with her husband, said she and Oliver now hope to attend an annual get-together of other families with the same syndrome.

“Oliver’s achievements offer hope to other people in the same position,” she added.

“It’s absolutely beyond my wildest dreams that Olly can walk and can stand up, can stand and hold on to a basin and for him to understand is an incredible breakthrough. The progress is just extraordinary. I’m just overjoyed, I’m completely overjoyed, because that’s what I was looking for.”