Jacob is Walking!

We have had so many exciting things happen over the last few months that it is hard to explain them all. But it can all be summed with the statement - Jacob is walking. As many of you know, Jacob has cerebral palsy and has never been able to walk more than a few halting steps at a time. He is now eight. Some of his therapists have held out hope that he might one day walk, others had stated that if a child was not walking by the time they were eight then they probably would never walk.

At the beginning of this year Jacob really seemed no closer. We would practice with him occasionally but no real progress was being made. We had always been told that as long as he was progressing with his motor skills he would not need surgery on his legs, but if he began to plateau then surgery might be necessary. The surgery involves lengthening his tendons. It is a painful surgery with a long recovery that would involve his legs being placed in full casts for up to 3-4 weeks. Not something we were looking forward to.

I won't go into all of the details but after several months of prayers, fasting and priesthood blessings we have truly seen a miracle. Yesterday Jacob attended church without his walker for the 2nd time. Saturday night he went to the ward Halloween party without his walker. He is literally walking on his own. I still follow close behind him to catch him if he tips over but his strength and confidence in walking seem to grow each day. If you had seen him at the beginning of this year you would have thought what he is doing now would be unimaginable.

We are so grateful for all of those who have prayed and fasted for Jacob. You can know that you have been part of a miracle. Jacob's therapist was talking to Holly a few weeks ago and lamenting the fact that they hadn't been pushing him harder since he is making so much progress right now. She said, "I don't know if you realize this, but what we are seeing with Jacob is miraculous."

I think that Brigham's comment summed it up best. Saturday night we were packing up to go to the ward Halloween party. Brigham saw me putting Jacob's walker in the back of the van and said, "Dad, what are you doing. Jacob doesn't need that thing anymore." And he is right. We didn't use it at all that night. Jacob is still using his walker at school but we hope that soon he will be able to get rid of there as well. This is opening up a new an wonderful world for him. Words cannot express the gratitude we feel to our Heavenly Father for this miracle in our lives.

We'll keep you posted on his progress.