Derby County fan, 3, can move arm again after stroke

Reuben has now been discharged from hospital

A three-year-old Derby County fan who suffered a stroke has started to move his arm again.

A stroke hit the left side of Reuben's brain on 1 May, affecting movement in his right arm and leg, and taking away his speech just days after the Rams secured promotion to the Championship.

Since then, Reuben has made promising progress by regaining some movement in his arm and being able to stand on one of his legs.

His father Liam told BBC Radio Derby: "We’ll do whatever it takes to allow him to live a full life."

The family has started raising money to pay for private physiotherapy and speech therapy on top of what the NHS can provide plus any adjustments to their home that Reuben may need.

Liam said following his discharge from Birmingham Children's Hospital, Reuben would continue to receive rehabilitation care from home.

"Now we've got a bit of movement, we can work with that," he said.

"So that’s rehabilitation, physiotherapy, doing exercises and just sheer determination now."

Liam described the moment Reuben moved his arm again for the first time as "very emotional".

"That was the one thing I was worried about, because if there's no movement, I can’t do anything and no-one can help him really as that’s his brain having to develop those pathways on his own," he said.

The family are huge Derby County supporters

Derby County mascot Rammie visited Reuben in hospital, which his father said had been a massive boost for the family.

"Derby County have been absolutely fantastic with him," Liam said.

"It was emotional for all of us when Rammie arrived because Reuben said the word 'Derby' and he had not really said anything else apart from 'yes' and 'no' until that point.

"It gives you that realisation that we are not on our own and that we are all fighting together for him.

"I suppose it gave me and my partner Holly the support we needed, seeing him interact with Rammie and how happy and excited it made him."

Liam said he would do "whatever it takes" to make sure his son gets the best treatment he can for his future.

"That’s why it was so exciting to see that movement from him because if we can get that initial movement then it's game on," he said.

"We’ll do whatever it takes to allow him to live a full life. If that means us sacrificing other things to get the rehab he needs, then we’ll do that for him to give him the best opportunity."

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