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A four-year-old boy who was told he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life has miraculously learned to walk by copying a disabled duckling.
Finlay Lomax (pictured) suffered a stroke as a baby and developed cerebral palsy which affects the way the brain co-ordinates movement in the body.
The family were told Finlay would never walk because of the condition, but defying the odds he has now learned to stand on his own two feet after he began studying a day-old duckling.
Finlay's mother Becci, 29, took in tiny yellow hatchling Ming-Ming after a farmer friend told her he would be put down because of a splayed leg.
Becci decided to rescue Ming-Ming and took him to the vet who fitted the duckling with a splint. He began to limp around the family home as his leg strengthened.
Amazingly, Finlay was so impressed by his new pet's progress he began trying to copy his steps, saying 'I walk like the duck mummy'.
Becci said: 'I was told the duckling was to be put down first of all. I was trying all over to find a vet that knew about ducks. At first I didn't think he would make it - I felt sick.
'The most amazing thing is, in helping the duckling, Finlay has also taken his first steps.'
Finlay can now walk for five yards at a time with the help of a zimmer frame at their home in Plymouth, Devon.
Single mother Becci, a law student, said it was 'incredible' that her son had learned to walk by studying Ming-Ming - named after a character in TV show Wonder Pets.
The pair now regularly stroll around the house together.
She said: 'I had been told that Finlay might never be able to walk so it's amazing to think he is taking steps already thanks to the duckling.
'Finlay has been having physiotherapy for his whole life but he never really responded until we got the duckling.
'As soon as Ming-Ming started physio and began walking so did Finlay. I was brimming with pride.
'Finlay has really taken to him. He is now much stronger and it's great to see him walking.
'I've told him that if he works hard then one day he will be able to take Ming-Ming for walks on a lead. That is what he is really working towards.'
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From The Daily Mail in the UK:
