Brave four-year-old Harvey, who lost both legs and an arm to meningitis, takes up ballet

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 08:15 EDT, 7 May 2009

A four-year-old boy is courageously defying the meningitis that left him with just one limb - by taking up ballet.

Surgeons were forced to amputate Harvey Phillips' legs below the knees as well as his right arm and the fingers on his left hand when he was nine months' old.

Devastated, his mother Lisa feared it would stop him ever playing with friends or enjoying music and dance.

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Meningitis victim Harvey Phillips at his ballet class, where he dispenses with his prosthetic limbs because he says they get in the way

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Proud: Harvey with his mother Lisa Phillips, who says he is 'in his element when he's being active and dancing'

But Harvey proved her wrong after watching his five-year-old sister Kayla at her ballet class.

With determination worthy of amputee war hero Douglas Bader, Harvey began going to his own weekly ballet classes last November alongside able-bodied children his age.

His proud 34-year-old mother, from Louth in Lincolnshire, said: 'He wants to try everything. He doesn't understand the meaning of the word "No".'

Harvey has learned to run, jump and twirl using custom-made plastic caps to protect the stumps of his legs - saying his new prosthetic legs just get in the way.

He also manages to balance using just his left arm and head as counterweights.

The ballet classes have improved his posture and are now helping him walk with the prosthetic legs.

Harvey had never been happier, his mother said.

'He's in his element when he's being active and dancing. He's totally comfortable in his own body.

'And if he can't do things the way his friends do it, he'll find his own way of doing things. "I'll do it my way," he tells me.

'I'm so proud of him. I always knew he'd have to fight hard all his life but I'm happy in the knowledge that he's ready for that fight.'

Harvey contracted meningitis in June 2005 in Sheffield while on a family visit. At Sheffield Children's Hospital he was put into a medically induced coma - and was baptised the same night after doctors warned he might not survive.

By the time he pulled through a week later, septicaemia - blood poisoning - was destroying his extremities and the surgeons had to amputate.

Mrs Phillips, a divorced full-time mother, said: 'At first I was so worried that he'd never have a good quality of life, be housebound and totally dependent on me.

'But Harvey is strong-headed. If he wants to do something, he does it.

'I was determined he would have a positive attitude. I treat him the same as I treat Kayla, if not a little harsher as he needs to learn to stick up for himself.'

Harvey has adapted and learned how to play with toys and feed himself.

When he was three, doctors made a permanent incision across the palm of his remaining hand to help him hold crayons, pens, toys and spoon.

He has excelled at his mainstream school - especially with his handwriting.

Harvey's dance teacher, Nicky Wright, of Studio 2000, in Louth, said Harvey was coping well with her lessons.

She said: 'We were all a little bit apprehensive when he first started and we've been very careful about how we were describing things.

'We knew it would be a challenge but I think we've found ways to overcome these things by exaggerating the use of the head.

'I think he's coping nicely. He smiles continuously so he must be okay with everything.'

Harvey will always need a one-to-one helper at school, but Mrs Phillips said he was becoming more independent every day.

She added: 'The name Harvey means battleworthy, and that's exactly what he is.'  

Harvey is set to be a page boy for his mother when she marries her fiancé, lorry driver Joe Chappell, 44, at Louth registry office, on Saturday.