Keeping Kids Healthy: Triumph of the Spirit 2-Child's Journey Through Paralysis

The birth of her baby was nothing like Leann had imagined. Three-pound 4-ounce Jessica arrived nine weeks early - a tiny soul fighting for her brand-new life. She had meningitis, a septic infection, water on the brain - and then she had a stroke in her spinal cord, paralyzing her from the chest down. She wasn't expected to walk or talk; a normal life seemed like an impossible dream. But her mother wouldn't give up: she kept looking for doctors, she kept searching for answers. And her persistence led to an extraordinary triumph over the odds. With the help of a doctor who stepped up to the challenge, Leann implemented a daily regimen of exercise for her little girl - and together they developed a new approach to spinal cord rehabilitation in children that brought Jessica to her feet, and that holds the promise of an unimaginably bright future for children with spinal cord injury. Meet the bright, talkative little girl who defied the odds, and the mother and doctor who wouldn't take no for an answer - and find out what every family with a devastating medical condition should know about reaching beyond a negative prognosis, and refusing to give up.

GUESTS

Matt Wyffels -- paralyzed in a snowboarding accident Jessica Hill -- Age 7 Leann Hill -- Jessica's Mom Susan Howley -- Director of Research & Executive Vice-President, Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, Springfield, NJ. Leighton Weber -- Fitness Trainer specializing in paralysis; head of the Sit Tall, Stand Tall Rehabilitation Program in Provo, Utah, that teaches walking skill to individuals with paralysis. John McDonald, MD -- Executive Vice-President and Staff Scientist, International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Kennedy-Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD; Relevant Published Works Include: Spinal Cord Injury and Repair in Diseases of the Nervous System: Clinical Neurosciences and Therapeutic Principles; Repairing the Damaged Spinal Cord: From Stem Cells to Activity-Based Restoration Therapies in Clinical Neurosurgery. David Salsberg, PsyD -- Director of Pediatric Psychology, Rusk Institute, NYU Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine; Published works include: Neuropsychological Assessment of Childhood Stroke in Loss, Grief & Care: A Journal of Professional Practice with R. Gordo

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