A four-year-old, who was told by doctors that he will never be able to walk, has taken his first steps.
Bleu Greenwood had a birth anomaly known as stage five cerebral palsy and was not eligible for treatment at the NHS.
This disease is one of the most restrictive ones, making body movement nearly impossible.
Watch him take his first steps below.
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Video credit: Rumble
Bleu’s parents spent all their savings on operational procedures and physiotherapy sessions to make it possible for him to move without any assistance.
After the costly surgery, the little boy walked for the first time in the start of this month and was finally able to go to the nursery.
Bleu’s parents Dale Greenwood, 28, and Rielle Chapple, 27, were beyond themselves after their boy regained his mobility.
Rielle, who’s a former restaurant manager and now works as a full time carer, said: “It was the most emotional moment of my life.
“It was so lovely and overwhelming to see because we never ever thought it would happen. It just shows how determined he is and we are so proud of him.
“We all had a massive celebration when he did walk for the first time. Everyone was crying because it was such a happy moment. And you could see how happy it made him.”
Bleu was born at Leicester Royal Infirmary on August 27, 2015, along with a twin who died.
Bleu’s mom recalls that they discovered his abnormality at only a few hours of age. She said: “He was doing weird jerking movements and I knew something was wrong.
“Then when he was 10 days old he started having seizures. By the time he got to four months he wasn’t hitting any milestones and that’s when we got the diagnosis.
“They said it was the most severe case of cerebral palsy and said he’d never be able to talk. But they also said even with surgery he’d never walk.”
Bleu underwent an expensive surgery at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Center.
The surgical operation he underwent is known as dorsal rhizotomy. In this procedure, the neurons sending wrong signals to the body muscles, causing them to contract and become stiff, are cut by the surgeons.
After the surgery, Bleu had to have physiotherapy sessions that cost more than $100 an hour.
The physiotherapy was done for five months, finally enabling Bleu to walk with a walker for the first time on November 13.
The very next day, his school’s staff and students were astonished to see Bleu walking on his own to the class.
Rielle said: “He has made so much progress since surgery and has improved massively. He has no pain now and is on a really good path moving forwards. We will try to get the best out of him, for his sake.”
Due to his medical condition, Bleu has a short life expectancy.
In January, when he was admitted to a hospital due to breathing problems, the doctors feared the worst but the brave little boy fought pneumonia, sepsis and staphylococcus infection and outlived all the expectations.
Now that he can move around on his own, Bleu is happy with his life.
Rellie said: “For us we just want to make him as happy as we can for as long as we can. I want to make him smile as much as we can.
“The operation has made him more independent and has improved his quality of life massively.”
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