The mother of a young boy crippled by injuries he sustained in a tragic accident is trying to crowdfund a once in a lifetime trip to Disney World.

Zach Cohen, 12, of Howland Garth, St Albans, was five when he hit his head on the concrete playground at Broadfields Infant School in Edgware.

He was taken to the on-duty first aider by a friend, who sent a usually ‘lively and loud’ Zach back to class because no obvious wound was found.

The next few ‘crucial’ hours saw Zach subdued, and it wasn’t until the leader of his after-school club noticed Zach wasn’t himself that his mum, Tricia Katoria Cohen-Harris, was called.

She said: “When I arrived Zach grabbed onto me saying ‘Mummy I love you, don’t leave me’ and collapsed in my arms.”

Tricia asked the school to call an ambulance urgently and attempted to keep her now unconscious son awake by talking to him.

Zach was rushed to Barnet Hospital where they found a blood clot in his brain caused by a bleed from a main artery.

He was immediately transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where he underwent an emergency operation to relieve the bleed, which by now covered the entire left side of his brain.

Tricia told the Herts Advertiser that Zach died on numerous occasions during this time period. She said: “He was dead, the nurse said it was a miracle he came back.

“He spent five days in a coma and I never left his side. I sung, read and chatted to him hoping he would hear me motivate him on to fight so he could find his way back to me.”

He now suffers with cerebral palsy and delayed emotional development, but the family have not received any compensation or support from the school.

Despite their limited resources, Tricia has nursed her son back to a condition where he can attend mainstream education at Marlborough Science Academy.

She added: “He’s so frustrated because he doesn’t understand why he’s not like the other kids at school, he gets very depressed.”

Tricia, now his carer, said that Disney World would be a welcome break from their every day struggles.

She commented: “A trip to Disney would be life-changing for us and would really lift both of our spirits; these past years have been the hardest of our lives.”

She’s set up a JustGiving page for the cause, adding: “Anything, big or small, would be so appreciated by us.”