Little Brogan Lawrence arrived early into the world and with serious health problems.

Born nine weeks prematurely in October 2011, he had to fight for his life against bleeding in the skull and periventricular leukomalacia, which left three holes in the left side of his brain.

The injury left him with quadraplegic cerebral palsy, meaning he does not have full control of the muscles in his arms and legs.

Now, his family is fundraising to allow the four-year-old to have expensive specialist treatment not currently available on the NHS.

Brogan’s mum, Lauren Lawrence, of Sunnyside, Braintree, said: “We had a hell of a first year, but we are doing well at the moment, touch wood. Healthwise he’s been really good.”

The “Spider therapy” treatment – which involves hooking Brogan up to a special piece of equipment made from ropes – allows experts to isolate and train his weaker muscles.

Weekly two-hour sessions cost about £140 and Brogan’s mum has so far raised about £1,000 to pay for them.

Mrs Lawrence, 31, said Brogan has particularly weak inner stomach muscles, which sit behind the familiar ‘six-pack’ abdominals.

She said: “It’s a lot of money but we have only been going for just over a month and he’s come on so much.

“When we first started going Brogan couldn’t sit unaided at all, this week he was managing to sit up and keep himself up for a good couple of minutes at a time.”

“The condition limits his ability to be independent. He’s not able to sit up on his own, or walk or crawl.

“With normal physio they work on stretching muscles. With this, the aim is to get the weak muscles active and stronger so he’s able to use them in a benficial way.”

Brogan also has therasuit therapy –a service also not provided by the NHS – which uses electric pulses to stimulate muscles.

She said: “Brogan is such a happy boy. He works really hard.

“Sometimes it’s horrible to watch. But it’s like no pain, no gain – it’s all beneficial to him.

“Mentally, he understands everything that’s happening but he doesn’t always communicate .

"He does know when he’s had enough though.”

Brogan’s nursery, the Seesaw Day Nursery, in Lancaster Way, Braintree, is holding a sponsored wear green day and raffle on April 28 – the colour for the cerebral palsy charity.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/Brogansbattle/

For more details, call 01376 555266 or e-mail SeeSawNursery.Manager@4children.org.uk