A BRAVE three-year-old amputee has endured a operation to fuse the bones in his legs together so he can walk using his prosthetic legs.

Little Louie Jenkins from Colne had both his legs amputated from below the knee after he became critically ill with meningitis in 2012.

The determined Chatham Street youngster learnt to walk unaided using prosthetic legs at the age of two, but became plagued with pain when wearing them.

In November he underwent an operation at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool to fuse his bones in his left leg together. He was due to undergo the same operation for his right leg on the same day, but doctors ran out of time and the procedure had to be halted.

Last week Louie went back to the hospital to undergo the operation for his right leg.

His mum Julie, 32, said: “Louie needed the operation to fuse two bones in his leg together to stabilise them as they were wobbly – he hasn’t got anything much there to hold the bones together.

“He had started getting pain when he was wearing his prosthetic legs, and it got to the point where he was getting really upset when we got them out as he didn’t want them on.

“The operation seems to have gone really well and Louie is now home and recovering well.

“Louie will need further operations on the bones as they keep growing, but only time will tell how soon he will need them. It could be after six months or two to three years.”

Following the operation Louie won’t be able to use his prosthetic legs again for another three months.

Julie says that one of the hardest thing about the operations is that he is having to spend long spells without using his prosthetic legs.

She added: “ It was a shame because he had come on loads in those two weeks and had learnt how to stand up at nursery.

“He copes really well with it but it can be quite upsetting knowing how much more independence he has when he can wear his legs.”