A nine-year-old boy with a rare spinal condition has set his sights on reaching Wimbledon , aiming to reach the top of wheelchair tennis . The would-be Wimbledon champion says that he will “not be defined by (his) spine”.

Leo Charlesworth-Mark, who lives in Basingstoke, Hampshire, with his parents, Leanne and Nathaniel, both 32, and his three-year-old sister, Naylee, was born with a rare condition called sacral agenesis where the lower part of his spine is missing, affecting the lower half of his body.

The “determined” youngster was also born with dislocated hips and he lives with reduced knee flexion, meaning he struggles to bend his legs – but he has learned how to use crutches to move which has given him “independence”, while also using a wheelchair for longer distances.

Leanne,

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