Seven-year-old Rocco Green needed walking aids to get around before he got Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery in the US thanks to fundraising. Video / Ashlee Green
Willpower, persistence and some help from his community have given a seven-year-old Hawke’s Bay boy the ability to walk unaided for the first time and chase his sporting dreams.
Rocco Green was born prematurely at 32 weeks and diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 16 months, presenting as spastic diplegia.
This meant he had tightness in his leg muscles and needed walking aids, but it has never stopped him from trying every new thing he could. He has discovered passions for skateboarding, horse riding, rugby and breakdancing.
Fundraising, including a Givealittle page and a charity auction dinner, raised more than $200,000 to help Rocco travel to America for Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) surgery, which cuts sensory nerves in the spinal cord to reduce leg stiffness in children with cerebral palsy.
Rocco had SDR surgery and a follow-up PERCS (selective percutaneous muscle lengthening) surgery in May this year.
Three months on, he has ditched his walking frame, and his ability to get around with crutches and even short distances unassisted has improved greatly.
Rocco said getting surgery was “a bit weird” and a little bit scary.
He was a bit sore afterwards and he missed his brothers while he was overseas but weeks of post-op recovery and physiotherapy to re-learn how to use his legs showed results and he returned to NZ in June to continue his journey.
“I can walk with my heels flat. I can walk with my heels without any stretching or anything. I can now run quite far with only the stick,” Rocco said.
Rocco Green, 7, happy and home again three months on from two life-changing surgeries in the United States. Photo / Ashlee Green
“[I want to thank] everyone who helped me with the money.”
He wants to play basketball with his growing capabilities.
Mum Ashlee Green said the surgery took a big toll on Rocco, but it couldn’t have gone better for him.
“The surgery can unmask a lot of weakness in the muscle that has been overridden for most of his life,” Green said.
“At the end of the first week, he was in a lot of pain and was struggling to roll over and things like that because his body was unsure how to do those things.”
He began to bounce back after only a few days and he had the second surgery in a different hospital, a week after the first.
Rocco during physical therapy in the US. Photo / Ashlee Green
“That was amazing as well. The results from that straight away meant he was able to have his right foot flat on the ground, which he has struggled to do his whole life so that was an instant result we saw, and from there he had three weeks of outpatient therapy.”
They were told it could take three months before Rocco returned to the level he was before but he bounced back faster than expected.
“There was nothing that really slowed him down. Since he has been home he has just made so much progress,” she said.
“On the walking side of things he has ditched his walking frame and he is using his quad sticks [four-pronged walking sticks] all the time now to get around.
“He is practising walking unassisted, which is going really well, but even things like his balance and the way he can hold himself and move himself around has made an incredible difference.”
Professionals predicted that, after a two-year post-surgery physio process, Rocco will be able to walk unassisted for shorter distances, mainly indoors while around the house, and get around outdoors using only crutches or quad sticks.
It has been intensive - Rocco does stretches twice every day and attends physio sessions five times a week - but he is excelling.
“He just gets on with it because he wants to play rugby and he wants to play basketball and he wants to do all of those things, so he knows he has to put in that work to get there.”
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
