Cerebral palsy: Wrexham boy gets first football boots

A boy whose parents were told he would not walk until he was seven has defied the odds and is playing in his first pair of football boots, aged four.

Carter was diagnosed with a form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia when he was 18 months old.

Now, three years earlier than doctors predicted, he is enjoying a kickabout in his first pair of football boots.

The Wrexham season ticket holder hopes to use his new boots to "play just like" his hero, striker Paul Mullin.

His mother Alison Murphy, 26, said her son could not wait to get his new boots on when he got them this week: "We tried them on him and as soon as he got them on he got a little ball in the house and started kicking it about."

Ms Murphy said being able to give her son his new boots has "made her Christmas".

"When I take him to school they've got a little goal there and he has to play football before he goes in," she said.

"He's now been tackling his friends in school and coming home covered in mud - which is making me very happy because I know he's happy."

She described a "difficult few months" trying to get her son football boots as the splint he wears means he has to wear a pair "three or four sizes" too big to accommodate them.

"We went into a shop on the off chance that we would find some that would possibly fit his splints. We took them home, and they fit him perfectly."

Earlier this season, Carter was personally invited by Wrexham striker Mullin to be his mascot.

"I make quite a few TikToks about Carter because there's quite a few other parents who don't have support or anybody else to talk to," said Ms Murphy.

"I put one on Twitter and Paul Mullin saw it - he messaged me in August and asked for Carter to be his mascot in September a week after his birthday."

Ms Murphy is now looking for ways for Carter to put his new boots into action.

"He's been offered to go to a football club in Oldham - they have a cerebral palsy football team. So we are thinking about that," she said.

"He wants to go and practice his football now - so we're going to take him to a field by where we live.

"His dad practises with him - he passes him the ball for him to score the goal."