A woman has shared the emotional moment her five-year-old son, who suffers from a brain condition, took his first steps.
Camden Hanson, from Woodstock, Georgia, has progressive cerebellar atrophy, which makes him physically handicapped.
Over the weekend, the five-year-old, who undergoes 10 therapy sessions a week and who normally relies on a gait trainer or crutches, took his first independent steps.
“Since we could all use a little happiness in our lives these days,” Camden’s mother Mandy Hanson captioned a video of her son walking on his own on Twitter. “My youngest son (age five) has progressive cerebellar atrophy and is physically handicapped. He also has 10 therapies a week. Today, he finally took independent steps!!”
Hanson also included the hashtags #MyHero and #NeverGiveUp.
According to the mum of two, Camden was meeting all of his milestones until 18 months, at which point Hanson realised his walk was off-balance.
“That was when we noticed he was very off balance and was trying to walk but had an abnormal gait not typical of a toddler," Hanson told Today. "After pursuing many possibilities for the cause, we then visited a local neurologist who conducted an MRI, and that is where we saw the cerebellar atrophy."
In addition to affecting his walking, the cerebellar atrophy also means Camden has difficulty forming words and balancing, as it affects his cerebellum, which coordinates voluntary movements such as posture, balance, coordination and speech.
According to Hanson, doctors have not yet been able to identify which genes caused the atrophy, which means Camden “may be the only one identified in the world with this condition”.
Fortunately, support from the Undiagnosed Disease Network, which offers families more information about unknown diseases, and various forms of therapy, including horseback-riding and intensive robotics therapy, have helped Camden.
As of Tuesday, the clip of the five-year-old’s first steps has been viewed more than 7.7m times.
“Most uplifting thing I’ve seen in days! Bravo,” one person commented.
Another said: “I love the determination followed by the light of sheer joy on his face; your heart must have nearly burst with love & pride.”
