Young football-Mad Lad with dreams of "Arm Growing Back" brought to tears as Britain's kindest Plumber buys new bionic arm costing £13k

'No amount of words can ever come out of my mouth to show how grateful I am as a mother for my son'

Born without his right forearm, a young bot will get a brand new bionic one thanks to the generosity of a 'Hero' plumber'.

Brave Alex Sparkes has always worked hard to overcome all the obstacles in his life, with the young lad from Burnley's parents dreaming of being able to get him a replacement. His mum, Dionne, 33, says that her son has constantly faced difficult situations, situations that most people with two hands take for granted.

Dionne told LancsLive that she had no idea that her "headstrong" son was missing a limb until he was born. added that while he is "loved" by his pals, he would spend his birthday "wishing" for his arm to grow back, only to have them shattered when he was told that wasn't possible.

When he first went to school, young kids would be "scared" of him after spotting his single arm, she said.

Young Alex and his parents, Dionne and Robin, who are from Oswaldtwistle, received an invitation to an event hosted by Open Bionics, this gave Alex the opportunity to experience the "Hero Arm" which was one of the potential options for the brave seven-year-old, who had never enjoyed wearing other types of prosthetics, however when the arm was attached, Dionne said his face lit up as he was able to move it.

This became a goal for the parents, an idea they initially thought they wouldn't be able to afford even though being determined to pay themselves, but it was something they had to do, Open Bionics then persuaded them to consider crowdfunding the £13,000 total to purchase the arm.

They managed to initially raise £2,000 towards the goal, with them being encouraged to contact big companies and sports teams to increase the public exposure for the fund, leading to the life-changing donation of £12,000 from a Burnley charity called Depher, started by James Anderson.

• Alex with Mum Dionne 

Dionne said: "The last 24 hours haven't really sunk in. It's incredible. No amount of words can ever come out of my mouth to show how grateful I am as a mother for my son."

She added: "It was very much out of my comfort zone [to run the campaign] but it wasn't about me. It was about my son. My husband messaged Blackburn Hawks, they messaged back saying we've put you in touch with someone called James.

"I was at work and didn't know that conversation had happened yet and I got a message from someone saying 'Hi, it's James, can you ring me?" When I did, he said 'Hi, Blackburn Hawks have contacted me, I'd very much like to fund your son's arm'.

Although initially caught off guard, Dionne thanked him, still unsure it was real. After googling his number, she saw related stories of other people he had helped, with reality finally setting in.

"I rang my husband and he'd got a message saying congratulations on hitting your fundraising amount. It's just incredible

The money had been immediately transferred over, with James later visiting the family to let Alex know the good news, Dionne said that due to hay fever he was already teary, but became emotional as the news finally sunk in.

She said: "Alex was stunned. When he gave him a hug, Alex welled up. We all had a family hug afterwards and we all had a cry."

Alex will soon visit Bristol where a measuring and testing process will take place over a two-day period, with the manufacturing process then taking place, with hopes being that the arm will be ready within a matter of weeks.

Alex will soon go to Bristol where a measuring and testing process will take place over two days. Then the manufacturing process will take place and the arm will hopefully be ready within a matter of weeks.

James, and his company Depher, have helped millions, said he fell "in love" with Alex after being told of the fundraiser by Carl Everitt, Co-owner of the Ice Hockey team 'The Hawks'. James said: "His story drew me in. If Depher can do anything, this would be it. The arm will give a little boy his life back. I fell in love with him.

“He will remember it for the rest of his life and it will make his life much better. It will make a little boy live again. It was humbling to meet him, and it was wonderful to see his smile when I told him. It was an easy decision.

“He is smiling and happy and getting on with his life. It’s just wonderful to see a young boy go through so much and just want to be as normal as possible.”