After years of determination, a student at a Brampton elementary took his first steps and it was all captured on video.
Eight-year-old Lucas Blackwood was born prematurely at 34 weeks and was diagnosed with a severe case of cerebral palsy when he was nine months old.
The diagnosis, quadriplegia cerebral palsy, causes a person’s body, arms and legs to be nearly immobile.
Blackwood was also later diagnosed with epilepsy and is non-verbal.
But none of this stopped him. Blackwood wanted to eventually take his own independent steps and recently he was able to achieve that with the assistance of a walker.
Blackwood made the achievement earlier this month at Hillsdale Public School, where he is in Grade 3.
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“I’ve waited very long for that moment and worked very hard along with Lucas and just to feel the excitement with that moment, it’s unspeakable,” Nicole Missen, Blackwood’s mother, told Global News on Wednesday.
Missen said she was at work when Blackwood took his first steps, but staff at the school captured the event on video.
“When I saw it, it brought tears to my eyes,” Missen said.
“He makes me proud quite often, but I would have to say that is definitely up there with the top five. He also this year has combated getting a new hip and having muscles lengthened. He is truly my superman.”
Missen also thanked the staff at the school who helped Blackwood.
“I am very blessed that he goes to this school. It’s a very inclusive school with a very inclusive staff team.”
Tracy Koach is a special education teacher who frequently works with Blackwood.
In the video of Blackwood walking, Koach can be seen cheering him on and giving him a hug after he makes his first steps.
“The determination in this little boy has been so inspiring for all of us,” Koach said. “Just the reaction from the school, we’re the biggest fan of him.”
The video of Blackwood taking his first steps was posted on the Peel District School Board’s Twitter account Monday and has since received over 45,000 views.
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