Nina Cooper has faced many traumas in her life, not least the premature birth of son Jake after a nasty fall during pregnancy. Now he has cerebral palsy - but their new, specially designed home means the future looks considerably brighter. Fiona Tarrant reports...

Jake Cooper's eyes lit up when his mum took his tape recorder out of his school bag.

With some degree of effort but an enormous amount of pride, Jake reached for the start button and turned it on, so his mum could listen to his teacher telling her what Jake had done that day.

His grin broadened as the teacher spoke gently to Jake too, about the fun they'd had visiting a cafe and then recreating a play cafe at school.

This touching scene is a ritual for the three-year-old - he's four next month - who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Jake is the second of 25-year-old Nina Cooper's three children. The others are five-year-old Nathan, and Naomi, who's two in November.

Nina, who has split from the children's father and now has a new partner, was expecting a fourth child but lost the baby at 22 weeks, just days after moving into the family's new home.

That tragedy is just one of many to befall the Coopers, but there have also been pleasures along the way. One of those was the day in May when Nina picked up the keys to the house in Delapre Drive, Banbury.

Developed by Banbury Homes in conjunction with Cherwell District Council, the three-bedroomed house is one of two in the area designed to be flexible enough to meet the needs of disabled people throughout their lives.

For Jake, it means the difference between independence and dependency.

Although he has limited movement, Jake can press the buttons on his lift, so he travels upstairs on his own and his mum meets him at the top.

Soon Jake, who has recently undergone surgery to realign his hips, will be assessed for a special wheelchair and a special bike, which should mean he'll have greater freedom.

Said Nina: "Both are quite expensive and we can't afford them. Jake will be assessed for his wheelchair and then we, like everyone else, will have to rely on charitable donations to afford it.

"He may also get a bike, possibly through Hepac - the Hugh Ellis Paediatric Assessment Centre - at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. They've been great."

It's a worry for her but she hopes the funds will be found so Jake can get around. As we chatted, he sat on the sofa, his still legs unable to carry him out to the garden where his older brother was playing with a friend.

"When he gets his wheelchair, he'll be able to take himself out to the garden," said Nina. "I won't have to be with him all the time, which will give him a bit of independence."

Since moving to the area, Nina has found the support network for Jake is amazing.

"He goes to the Ormerod School in Headington three days a week and his progress has been amazing.

"Before he started going, he could only speak in single words. Now he can say whole sentences. He's been going for a year now, starting in the nursery class, and he loves it.

"I can't praise them enough. He's come on so much since he's been going there. Now, when Nathan tries to answer questions for him, I ask him not to. Jake can speak up for himself."

Jake's problems stem from birth. He was born premature, at 33 weeks, after Nina slipped on a loose paving slab and shattered her ankle.

She was rushed to the nearest hospital in Cleveland, where the family were living, and underwent an emergency operation to pin it back together, with an epidural to deaden the pain. The shock and trauma meant Nina went into premature labour and had the agony of giving birth with her leg in plaster.

"It was all over in 52 minutes. Jake looked fine but I always knew something was wrong.

"He was a very jittery baby. He hardly slept and he failed all his early assessments with the health visitors."

It took seven months of constant visits to the doctor's surgery for Jake finally to be referred to a specialist.

"They did a brain scan and tests and diagnosed his cerebral palsy. It was a very difficult time. I knew something was wrong.

"He didn't smile, didn't sleep and didn't follow me around the room with his eyes.

"I'm not ashamed to say I had a breakdown when I was told. It was such a shock. I'd been pressing and pressing for them to look at him and tell me what was wrong but it was devastating. It was a hard time. Jake slept for maybe an hour every day for the first two years of his life. It was exhausting."

Today life is much easier. Jake's development is slow but he is making good progress. The "lifetime house" gives him the space to develop even further.

"I'm looking forward to the day Jake can choose to go outside to play," said Nina. The shape of the house, where the family can live for ever - or until Jake decides he wants to live somewhere else - has helped.

*The Friends of Hepac are holding a sponsored ride on Sunday to raise funds to buy special play equipment for children with disabilities.

Anyone can come along, on whatever form of wheels - in-line skates, bikes, wheelchairs, even wheelbarrows. The ride starts at 2.30pm at the Churchill Hospital.

HOW THE HOUSE HELPS

Nina's "lifetime home" has:

*A level threshold door so

Jake can get in and out more easily

*A lift which rises up from

the kitchen to the upstairs landing

*A specially-designed landing which will allow Jake to get out of the lift in his wheelchair and turn it round easily

*A wide bathroom for the same reason

*A connecting door from the bathroom to his bedroom so when he's older a hoist can be fitted to get him from his room into the bath

*Adjustable units in the

kitchen and an accessible sink

so Jake can use it on his

own

*A downstairs loo with added space and fittings for a disabled shower unit

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