Nebraska teen with spina bifida participates in marching band on scooter

From Kearney Hub:

KEARNEY, Neb. — Everyone faces obstacles, Heather Walker (pictured) says. They just have to work hard to overcome them.

Walker, 19, of Amherst performs with the University of Nebraska at Kearney Pride of the Plains Marching Band. For her, marching has been the obstacle.

Walker, a sophomore nursing major, was born with spina bifida, a birth defect in which a portion of the neural tube fails to develop or close properly, which causes defects in the spinal cord and in the bones of the spine, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Her doctors insisted Walker would never move from the waist down and would be restricted to a wheelchair for life.

Walker has had 13 surgeries and has done exercises since she was a child.

“My grandpa always said, ‘That little girl will walk someday,’” she said.