Boy with nerve pain in foot to fly abroad for care

More than £5,000 has been raised so Josh can have specialist treatment in Italy

"He's a 13-year-old lad whose passion was playing football... and all that had to stop."

A teenage boy's family has raised more than £5,000 to fly him to Italy and undergo specialist treatment to help end his debilitating pain.

Josh's brain is sending pain signals to his foot that make it too painful to walk on, and he can no longer participate in the sports that he loves.

Sam Davin tells the BBC his son has been "in agony for ages". "We've got to hope [the treatment] works for him," he says.

Josh developed a limp in June 2023, which X-rays revealed was the result of a crumbling thighbone.

Known as Perthes' disease, it meant the blood supply to the bone was being disrupted.

He underwent surgery in March last year but the resulting nerve damage left him with complex regional pain syndrome.

Sam explains: "He can't put his left foot on the floor, he's on crutches all the time.

"Before his injuries he spent seven months boxing, and was really active… his friends like to go to town and mingle and that's been taken away from him as well."

Perthes' disease

A condition affecting the hip joint in children.

Part or all of the top of the thigh bone (the ball part of the ball-and-socket hip joint) loses its blood supply and may become misshapen.

Treatment include an operation to re-shape the bone around the hip joint.

Source: Oxford University Hospitals Paediatric Orthopaedics

Josh's brain is sending pain signals to his foot which makes it too painful to walk on

Josh has missed a year of school and taken part in an intense therapy programme, but Sam says his progress "seemed to stop and we can't see the massive improvements that we were hoping to see".

Sam and his wife Anne, who have two other sons and are based in Carterton, Oxfordshire, started looking for alternative solutions, and found out about scrambler therapy.

The treatment, which is of very limited availability in the UK, uses electrical stimulation on the affected area.

"It overrides the brain," Sam explains.

"Where the brain is telling him he's got the pain, this will eliminate that, so hopefully he'll be able to get his leg on the floor and then start his rehab properly."

While the couple were initially reluctant to start a crowdfunder because of "pride", in the end they "bit the bullet", Sam says.

"We can't believe how well it's done, it's been amazing so far.

"I've tried to message every single [donor] individually… because if Josh gets his life back we'll never be grateful enough."

The Davins hope the treatment will take place in March.

Sam says: "He's missed 18 months now of his life, and who knows how long before he's going to get better.

"The sooner we get it done, then fingers crossed it'll work for him."

Complex regional pain syndrome

A poorly understood condition where a person experiences persistent severe and debilitating pain.

The skin of the affected body part can become so sensitive that a slight touch, bump or even a change in temperature can cause intense pain.

Affected areas can also become swollen, stiff, or undergo fluctuating changes in colour or temperature.

Source: NHS