A BIG-HEARTED teenager is hoping to change the fortunes of “a-lad-in” need.

Harry Carnaby, 13, produced and directed his own thigh-slapping pantomime to help a young Stanford-le-Hope boy get a life-changing operation.

Harry used his artistic talents to stage his own production of Aladdin at his school, St John’s, in Billericay – using fellow pupils as actors and a script donated by the Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff.

The performance, which took place yesterday, will raise more than £200 towards sending Reece Walker to the US.

Reece, of Colville Close, desperately needs an intricate operation which will enable him to walk and his parents, Laura and Scott have been painstakingly trying to raise the £45,000 needed to send him to the Louis Children’s Hospital, in Missouri, since August.

They have so far raised £32,000 and are hoping to find the rest by April.

Harry, of Delmar Gardens, Wickford, said: “I met Reece and his family last month and I really wanted to do something for him.”

Reece, who was 17-months old when he was diagnosed with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, has to use a walking frame to get around. To help Reece visit www.justgiving.com/helpreecewalk or call 07960415314.