WORKERS at an insurance firm inWickford have stepped in to help pay for a little boy to have a life-saving operation in America.

More than 40 employees at Aon, in Gibraltar Walk, donned Christmas jumpers to raise money for Freddy Hazelwood.

The youngster, three, needs £80,000 to pay for specialised surgery and physiotherapy.

Freddy was born premature at 29 weeks, weighing just 3lb 8oz.

A bleed on the brain left him with a form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia, which means his muscles are so tight he cannot straighten his arms or legs properly.

Mum Shelly, who also has a six-year-old son called Archie, hopes to raise enough money for the selective dorsal rhizotomy operation by September.

She said: “This operation will enable him to stand straight, put his feet on the floor and be able to wear normal shoes. Our long term goal is for him to be able to walk without his frame. Archie tries his best to play with Freddy, but he wants to go on the trampoline or on the slide and for Freddy it’s just not possible.”

Shelly’s cousin, Claire Farrow, works at Aon and encouraged her colleagues to get involved in the festive jumper day and a fundraising raffle.

James Foot, charity champion at the firm, said: “As soon as we heard about Freddy, we thought it was such a good cause.

“The family need to raise an astonishing amount of money and what we will raise is only a drop in the ocean.”

To donate towards the operation, visit www.justgiving.com/ help-freddy-walk-tall