U.S. President Barack Obama has unwittingly offered a helping hand to a British boy's battle for a new pair of legs.

The President has pledged his support to Luca Williams' campaign for a pair of prosthetic legs, after catching a visitor to the White House sneaking a souvenir photo in Luca's honour.

Secret service staff initially pounced on Dai Baker when they spotted him snapping President Obama next to his outstretched hand, which had 'For LUCA' scrawled on the palm - until he explained he was trying to raise awareness of the brave three-year-old's plight.

When the President heard about the cause, he let Mr Baker keep the photo - and joined the ranks of Pixie Lott, racing driver Sebastian Vettel and top jockey AP McCoy, who have all tweeted similar photos to help raise money for Luca.

Little Luca was struck down by meningococcal septicaemia, a type of blood poisoning, four months ago and medics were forced to amputate his lower limbs.

His family are trying to raise £1.5 million to buy him a pair of prosthetic legs that aren't available on the NHS.

Parents Mo Syed and Sian Williams, launched the 'Raise your Hands for Luca' campaign last month, asking people to write 'For Luca' on the palm of their hand and upload the picture to Facebook or Twitter.
Luca Williams' parents are trying to raise £1.5 million to buy him a pair of prosthetic legs

Luca Williams' parents are trying to raise £1.5 million to buy him a pair of prosthetic legs

To date his Facebook page alone has attracted more than 10,000 followers and celebrities including Wales rugby players Ryan Jones, Leigh Halfpenny, F1 drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel and England cricketer Stuart Broad have also posted images.

And now the most powerful man in the world has joined the campaign.

Dai Baker seized his opportunity to help Luca when he was invited to meet the President at his Washington DC home. Mr Baker, 39, has lived in the US capital for eight years, but originally comes from Newport, South Wales, where his nephew goes to the same nursery as Luca.

He said: 'I wanted to send a message back home to Luca from the White House. Pixie Lott and her boyfriend Oliver Chershire pledge their support

Luca's father, Mr Syed said: 'We are delighted with Dai's picture.'

'It is amazing to be getting this kind of support. We soon realised that Luca's story had touched the hearts of thousands, including people as far as America, Australia and New Zealand.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/forluca or text ‘LUCA80 £5 or £10’ to 70070 and for more information visit facebook.com/forluca1 or follow @for_luca

There's been a lot of talk on FF lately about turning over a new leaf. JeanV became Mr nice guy, people finding religion etc. Here's a chance for you greedy bastards to redeem yourselves.
We might like to bash the hell out of each other but we're not heartless.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/forluca

Fuck that gimp

Popsicle' relatives are trying to raise S1.000 to buy him a new "brain" (that might be an overstatement). We might like to bash the hell out of each other but we're not heartless, be nice folks, the poor sheep needs our help...

1.5 Mil for new legs? Something smells funny. I know that they are not cheap, as my good friend wears one. 1.5 seems like they are padding it.

By the way..This NHS model that denies kids new legs is the SAME model that being implemented here in the USA.

NHS has also found it cheaper to cut off the legs of diabetic ulcer patients than treating the wounds...coming soon to the USA

For 1.5 million pounds or almost 3 million dollars he could friggen hire someone to carry him around for the rest of his life and wouldn't need legs! They trying to build a bionic kid or something? Something doesn't sound right here.

Little Luca was struck down by meningococcal septicaemia, a type of blood poisoning, four months ago and medics were forced to amputate his lower limbs.

His family are trying to raise £1.5 million to buy him a pair of prosthetic legs that aren't available on the NHS.

Coming soon to America.

Doctors battle to save one-in-a-million baby who was born with SIX legs
Baby was one half of a conjoined twin who did not completely develop in the womb
Doctors believe extra legs belong to twin brother
Tests being done to see if experts can operate
Parents of baby are cousins

Pakistani doctors are battling the odds to save a newborn baby born with a rare genetic condition that has left him with six legs.
The one-week-old boy is believed to be one of parasitic twins.
His conjoined twin was born prematurely and incompletely developed, which resulted in the second child having the extra legs, said Jamal Raza, director of the National Institute of Child Health in Karachi, to News.com.

Doctors at the institute are fighting to save the newborn, who remains in an intensive care unit ward.
Raza added that they were planning to operate on the boy and were considering asking for help from foreign experts with more experience in the rare disease, believed to afflict just one in one million babies.
He tried to clarify that the baby did not have six legs – he had two legs and the other four belonged to the other twin.

'Operating on such a baby is not an easy task as proper assessments need to be done first,' he said. 'We need to figure out whether the baby has his twin’s limbs or his own. We also need to consider how much the internal organs have developed as the latter could complicate matters and decrease the baby’s chances of surviving.'

Speaking to the news site, the baby's father, Imran Shaikh, made a plea for help from the government and charities.
‘I can’t afford to visit Karachi and get treatment for my baby,’ said the X-ray technician, who earns the equivalent of $66-a-month. ‘I appeal to philanthropists and the government to come forward for the treatment.’
Shaikh and his wife of four years live in Sukkur, around 280 miles north of where his son is being cared for. His wife is reported to be recovering well from the birth and in a good state of health.
His wife - who is also his cousin - has been unable to travel because she had a caesarean section delivery.
He said they were planning on naming their son Umar Farooq.
In a statement given to the AFP news wire, the provincial health department said: 'The doctors are examining the infant to plan for necessary treatment to save the baby's life and ensure he lives a normal life.'
Muhammad Qaisar, a doctor at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, told allvoices.com he was certain the boy could be successfully operated on. ‘It is perhaps [the] first child in the history of Pakistan having six legs,’ he said.
‘The case will also be a test for doctors and we hope for the better,” he said.
Since Shaikh made his public plea for help, the Sindh Governor has come forward and directed officials concerned to make sure the child receives all the medical care he needs, Pakistani-based The Nation reported.

I'm sure you guys can do something for that little "six-legged" pakistani!!

ps: more pics inside...

www.dailymail.co.uk . . .

Global_Village wrote:

Popsicle' relatives are trying to raise S1.000 to buy him a new "brain" (that might be an overstatement). We might like to bash the hell out of each other but we're not heartless, be nice folks, the poor sheep needs our help...

All experts in the field agree on the fact that just removing its
peanut sized brain will already improve its intellectual faculties by many order of magnitude, maybe on can even hope that he will
skyrocket through its today's IQ 15 Ceiling .

Mo Syed

I wonder what "Mo" is short for...