One of the biggest milestones for any child is the moment where they manage to gather themselves up on their chubby, unsteady little legs and manage to take several unassisted, wobbly steps across the floor.
Witnessing such a sight is enough to make any parent proud, but when Lovely Johnson watched her 6-year-old daughter accomplish the same feat on her own, it made that little girl her hero.
Johnson’s daughter, Love, has cerebral palsy, a group of disorders which make moving independently very difficult for her.
According to CNN , doctors initially attributed her mobility issues to a slow developmental rate.
However, when she was four years old, her parents were told that she had cerebral palsy. Just one year later, she was given a wheelchair and a walker to help her get around.
Last week, Love decided she wanted to try something new and asked her mom to film her.
Ditching her walker and her leg braces, the little girl attempted to take some steps on her own, totally unassisted.
In the video her mom took, she begins by holding onto some of her living room furniture to help her gain her footing, but soon she’s totally on her own, walking across the room towards her mom.
As she continues to walk by herself, Love’s face breaks out into a huge smile and she lets out a delighted laugh.
Once she reaches the other side of the room, her happiness changes into disbelief as she realizes what exactly she’s just accomplished.
After the camera stopped filming, she turned to her mom and exclaimed, “I can now walk like the other kids.’
Johnson uploaded the incredible video to her Facebook page where it quickly went viral.
In the original post , she wrote, “My hero is not someone older than me, it’s my 6-year-old princess.”
Since it was uploaded on October 4, the 20-second clip has been viewed more than 2.2 million times and has amassed over 60,000 reactions.
The reactions to the video have been overwhelmingly positive, with many Facebook users leaving comments to praise the young girl’s accomplishment.
“Bless her heart,” one user wrote. “This darling child has got lots of spunk. You go baby girl.”
Another added, “Awesome! That smile she has, it made my morning, my day, my week! She is a hero for sure.”
Watch the full video below.
Johnson said watching the moment her daughter took her first steps ever “felt like a dream come true.”
“I looked at her the way I looked at her when I gave birth to her,” she told CNN . “My heart was racing. I saw how excited my daughter was, and I knew a new chapter was about to begin.”
Since the video went viral, Love has been getting plenty of attention, including from a personal hero of hers.
YouTube star JoJo Siwa shared a video of the little girl online and wrote, “this little girl is amazing! Walking like a rock star! And wearing her JoJo shirt! She has cerebral palsy but is proving that ANYTHING is possible.”
At the end of the post she added, “If anyone knows this little girl, please help me reach out to her.”
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The post was shared to Facebook by Love’s mom, who then later uploaded a video in which JoJo gives Love a special shoutout for her amazing accomplishment.
h/t: CNN
