6-Year-Old Girl Takes First Steps One Year After Paralyzing Backbend Injury
(Photo: Twitter / @USLiveNews)On Dec. 23, 2015, Eden Hoelscher was performing a backbend in her [...]
On Dec. 23, 2015, Eden Hoelscher was performing a backbend in her living room, something she had done many times before. But this time, she couldn't get up afterwards. The now 6-year-old had hyperextended her spine which caused a stroke in her spinal cord that left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Eden quickly began physical therapy and has been making amazing process, and her family even relocated from Palos Verdes, California to Louisville, Kentucky so she could receive treatment at the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute. In July, the young girl took her first steps since her injury.
"She has made an amazing recovery," Eden's mom, Kylee Hoelscher, told People.
Eden's best friend Violet had flown in from California to visit her, and Eden was so excited to see her, she took her first steps all by herself.
"They were having this imaginary sword fight [during one of Eden's treatment sessions] and she just started taking steps," Kylee shared. "It was really amazing."
Kylee added that Eden had a hunch she might walk during Violet's visit.
"Eden said, 'Hey mom, I think when Violet comes, I think that she loves me so much that I'm going to walk when she comes," she said.
Eden goes to physical therapy five times a week and returned to school last week, and while there's still no prognosis for her recovery, she and her family are optimistic about her future.
"She wasn't able to sit up on her own in the beginning," Kylee shared. "But now she can fully sit up, get dressed, brush her teeth, take a bath and wash her own hair. She's a lot more comfortable in her own skin — just comfortable in her body and with the way that she is."
"She does have rough days where she says, 'Mom, am I ever going to get better?'" Kylee continued. "I had her watch the video of her taking steps and said, 'What do you think?' She looked at me and said, 'Yeah. I am.' "
Related:
5-Year-Old Girl Paralyzed From Backbend Now Aims to Inspire
Paralyzed Kitten Gets Around Thanks to Creative Wheelchair
Woman Paralyzed from The Neck Down Walks and Dances on Wedding Day