You were probably far too young to remember the first time it happened, but sometime around your first birthday, you took your first wobbly step.
After a while, it became so natural that you barely gave it a second thought. Next thing you knew, you were running and jumping and calling out, “Mom, Dad! Watch!”while you did cartwheels and handstands. But for this little girl, the ability to walk is something she’ll never take for granted. And she’ll never forget this moment. Her mom posted a video showing her little girl, who has cerebral palsy, taking her first steps.
Naturally, it’s melting hearts everywhere!
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In the video, the little girl is standing up, which already seems triumphant. She takes a little step and sits back down. But she doesn’t let that little setback slow her down. She stands right back up and starts shuffling again.
“Give it another little step, just a little one,”an off-camera voice, presumably her dad, says encouragingly. Her brother is ever there by her side acting as her mini cheerleader. “You’ve done it for a minute!”
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This seems like such a momentous occasion, but Dad manages to keep his voice steady and strong. The excitement from the little girl’s voice, however, embodies how we’re all feeling: “I’m walking! Yes!”she cries out through an ear-to-ear grin, pumping a victorious fist in the air.
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“I even took a big step!â€
“That was a big marching step,”Dad agrees, commending her on her balance.
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This clip will resonate with anyone who’s ever suffered an injury serious enough to require physical rehabilitation to relearn how to balance and walk. It sounds easy, but it’s hard work, and the feeling of victory after you take that first step without a walker or cane can’t be understated! But the video is especially meaningful for those who have watched with bated breath as loved ones who have cerebral palsy have taken their first steps.
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One viewer wrote that she was told her daughter would never walk, but after six months of physical therapy, she took her first unaided steps at just two years old.
“One of her therapists told me, ‘The milestones are met, just a little later. Think of it as taking the scenic route because the expressway is closed.’â€
Congratulations to this determined little girl and all the others out there who have had to work so hard to accomplish something the rest of us take for granted! Watch her ecstatic reaction in the clip below, and share to spread more joy.
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