A five-year-old boy who was told he would never walk has taken his first steps.
Poignant video footage captures Camden Brooks Hanson move unaided across a room in what his mum described as “an incredible moment”.
The youngster has cerebellar atrophy, a degenerative condition which affects the part of the brain that controls functions including coordination, balance and speech.
Camden, from Woodstock, Georgia, US, has been in physiotherapy since he was 18 months old.
“He has taken one or two independent steps in the past but typically falls right after,” Camden’s mother Mandy Hanson said.
“Many doctors and therapists told us they didn’t think he would ever walk independently and look at him now.”
More than seven million people have watched the footage since it was posted on Twitter on Saturday.
Mandy said she and her family have received messages of support from across the world.
She added: “Everything Camden accomplishes big or small is celebrated but watching him take so many independent steps and feel so confident that he could finally do it was an incredible feeling.
“We are so proud of him and blessed that he is our son.”
Genetic tests have been unable to highlight the exact cause of Camden’s atrophy, but MRI scans have shown it worsening over time.
“The ‘unknown’ is very scary because we are unsure what his prognosis and future looks like,” Mandy said.
She described Camden as a “very happy little boy” who “loves being silly and making people laugh”.
The mother continued: “In his pre-k class this past year, he received the Biggest Heart award out of 22 students because his teacher said that he was always so loving to his teachers and peers.”
The child has physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy, meaning he undertakes about 10 sessions a week.138208672551
Coronavirus lockdown has meant conducting those sessions online, with Camden’s parents also home-schooling and working full-time jobs, which Mandy said was “difficult”.
But Camden is due to start kindergarten in the autumn, and his parents are hopeful he will continue to make progress.
“Our hope is that he starts kindergarten using just his crutches and eventually can walk around the room using just one of them,” Mandy said.