TEENAGER Elliot Knott is walking again after a successful back operation in India.

His mother Karen arranged the surgery when she found he would have to wait at least a year before treatment could become available on the NHS.

The cost of the operation and flights to cure Elliot's spondylolisthesis - a condition where the spinal column slips and catches on nerves - cost almost £6,000.

Elliot, 14, from Charminster, will have to spend three months wearing a back brace following the six-hour operation but is due to return to Thomas Hardye School in September - to start working towards his GCSEs.

Mrs Knott, 44, said: "It has been an enormous difference.

"He can walk around now without pain and he will be able to go back to school next month.

"That's what I was aiming for really. For him to be able to go back to school at the beginning of next term.

"If he had another year off it would have made an enormous difference."

She said she was very impressed with the staff at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi.

"They could not do enough for you, they were really good," she said.

"The surgeon was amazing - he came to see Elliot two or three times every day. He even met us at the hospital when we arrived at 2am.

"Everyone seemed so dedicated to their work."

Elliot's operation took six hours as surgeons realigned his spine and inserted six metal screws to hold it in place.

Fragments of bone have also been transplanted to grow and reinforce his back.

Mrs Knott said: "He's grown five inches since the operation. I have to look up to him now. He's got to wait six months before he can do sports and a year until he can lift anything heavy, but all that would have been the same if he had the operation here."

Elliot was captain of the West Dorset Warriors swimming team before an ice skating accident damaged his back in December 2004.

His deteriorating condition meant he has been able to go to school since Easter and had difficulty standing.

He said: "It's a lot better, there's hardly any pain at all now. I can walk for a lot longer now and I can stand up.

"It will improve over the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to going back to school because I have not been for quite a while."

Mrs Knott added: "It's a long way to go and I can imagine not everyone would take that journey but I would do it again if I had to. It is a bit of a leap into the unknown but everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I would certainly recommend people to consider it."