PORTLAND, ORE. — Our sister station KGW caught up with a kid who's been battling acute flaccid myelitis, or more commonly known as AFM, for two years. It’s a rare and mysterious illness that can lead to paralysis.
At 5-years-old Hudson Zednik was paralyzed from the waist down.
Doctors told his parents to not get their hopes up and that he would never be the same. But Hudson is making incredible progress.
For Hudson and his parents -- it's been a long two years.
They lived in Baker City when he was airlifted to a Boise hospital and then moved their family to Troutdale so Hudson could go through rehab at Randall's Children Hospital.
Walking the paths at the zoo is a new experience for Hudson. The last time he was here, he was in a wheel chair.
Hudson spent 20 days in a Boise hospital. Confined to a hospital bed, he was almost completely paralyzed from the neck down.
“I could only move a thumb,” Hudson said.
He still had feeling and sensation in his limbs, just no movement. Doctors said he would probably never walk again.
“It's amazing! They said it would probably never happen. Not to get our hopes up,” said
But Hudson wouldn't listen.
The stubborn will of a young boy wasn't going to let a paralyzing diagnosis stop him. He's working to get some of that feeling he lost back.
“My right side doesn't really work because I can hardly hold up anything. This one I can hold a bunk bed,” Hudson said.
Today was about celebrating a milestone, a day off from school and an upcoming 8th birthday.
There's not a lot known about AFM. That's what makes it hard to pinpoint why this disease shut down Hudson's body. The CDC says it usually effects one out of a million people.