I hear babies cry,
I watch them grow,
They’ll learn much more,
Than I’ll ever know.
And I think to myself,
What a wonderful world.
Thus spake the great Louis Armstrong about this wonderful world. And it still is, you know.
Like many people, the football news bulletins fill me with sadness and disillusionment. The England captain diving to win a penalty only for the football community to unite behind him to sustain the myth that he didn’t dive, a group of middle aged men found guilty in the courts for football hooliganism and a black man being racially abused whilst trying to board a tube train. Football is on its way to hell in a handcart.
But then comes the story about Oskar Pycroft, the six year old Bristol City supporter, who suffers from bilateral spastic cerebral palsy, a terrible condition which means he cannot sit, stand or walk independently. Oskar, you see, needs an operation that represents his only chance of being able to walk. This operation costs £50k but NHS has decreed that the operation does not fall within with its criteria, so the money has had to be raised privately. And so it has been, or rather is being, with some £37k having been raised to date.
Now I don’t want to spoil a good news story, which this surely is, with some petty politicking but here we go. Don’t worry: it’s not party political politicking but it’s NHS politicking. Why on earth cannot the NHS carry out this operation for Oskar and how does their criteria exclude a six year old boy who has only the one chance in his life to walk? Now I am not an expert on these things but I would willingly pay an extra bit of tax for Oskar and people like him. I do not want the NHS to make decisions based entirely upon economic grounds. I would rather we bought one less tank or one less nuclear missile if I had my way, but if we want it all, then surely we can all pay for it?
None of this is to decry the sensational efforts of the likes of the magnificent Darren Wright foundation, which has led the fundraising efforts, along with people like local BCfm radio presenter and Bristol Rovers matchday announcer Nick Day, to help Oskar reach this total. Without them, Oskar and his family would see no light from the darkness. With them, there is.
I will not pretend to understand what Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) actually is, but this is the procedure that could change Oscar’s life forever and for the better. There’s not long to go now and it looks like the organisers will reach the target.
Bristol City’s forthcoming Wembley visit, with its attendant charity fundraising walk, could really make all the difference so I would urge everyone to support that too. And City’s wonderful gesture in making Oskar the mascot for the day should put a smile on everyone’s face, even those of the blue and white persuasion!
Who’d have thought the appeal would have neared the total so quickly? Well, me, actually. I never doubted for a split second that Bristol would unite behind this little lad and I knew for an absolute fact that Gasheads would love the fact that Oskar wore his full City kit under his coat when he visited the Memorial Stadium.
We’ve heard a lot of bad news stories about football this week. Thanks to Oskar and his army of supporters, this isn’t one of them.
