DAN Black and Brecon Vaughan will celebrate their birthdays together with their families next month.

In October it will be two years since Mr Black, 27, gave £22,000 - raised for him after he was paralysed from the chest down in a road accident in Chepstow - to help Brecon, now seven, overcome problems from a debilitating nerve-muscle condition.

Brecon, of Birdwood Gardens in Mathern, underwent surgery for spastic dipledia cerebral palsy in the United States, freeing him from a walker he had to use, after money from Mr Black, and an appeal backed by the Argus’ sister paper the Free Press, raised £60,000.

Now, he is free to be one of the boys at Shirenewton Primary School , his mum Ann Drewery, 47, said.

He has to go for lengthy sessions at physiotherapists a number of times a week but is making good progress, she said.

“He’s seven and obviously he doesn’t want to do physio all the time. It is ongoing and it will be ongoing for many years," she added.

“Even though he would have been able to walk for a while he would have become less and less mobile."

On the decision made by her and husband Rob Vaughan to allow Brecon to undergo the surgery, she said: “Obviously it was a very stressful time. We were just hoping that the bigger picture was that it would pay off.”

Mr Black, from Llanfair Discoed, won a Pride of Britain award for his generosity for helping out Brecon – with whom he shares his birthday, September 24. Both the Blacks and Vaughans will meet up at the Old Barn Inn in Llanmartin on that day.

Former Chepstow Comprehensive School pupil Mr Black said he particularly enjoyed meeting celebrities when he received his award. At the ceremony, he was chatted to members of McFly, while Stephen Hawking and David Cameron were sat just a few tables away from him.

When he was told he was being commended while at a Celebrity Gold event at the Celtic Manor, he couldn’t believe it.

“It was quite a shock; I thought it was a joke,” he said.

He was commended for his help as Brecon underwent the four-and-a-half hour procedure which has changed his life.