Four-Year-Old With Spina Bifida Defeated The Odds As He Learned To Walk

Apr 30, 2020 by apost team

Whitney Dinkel of Kansas was so excited about her son's first steps that she could not help but post a video of the occasion on to social media back in 2018. Her 4-year-old son, Roman, is no ordinary boy. Roman, who was born with spina bifida, defied all of the odds by taking his first steps when he was just two years old despite his debilitating condition.

Roman's enthusiasm for his big accomplishment is contagious. The clip of him walking has now been viewed millions of times, according to Tech Times, and a Facebook page that shares the boy's progress has hundreds of thousands of subscribers. In the video, Roman proudly walks with the help of his crutches as he tells his dog, Maggie, to check him out.

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The boy from Overland Park, Kansas, was born with the birth defect spina bifida. According to the Mayo Clinic, spina bifida is the result of the spinal cord and spine not properly developing in the womb. But luckily, Roman's parents were proactive in dealing with his medical challenges. The boy had surgery while in utero to increase his chances of being able to walk one day and to improve his breathing issues, according to ABC News. And since that fateful decision years ago, Roman is able to walk.

"This whole situation has been crazy," dad Adam Dinkel told GMA Day back in 2018. "I'm a chiropractor. I actually work with a lot of kids, especially kids with special needs, and my patients know that and so, they'd walk in and show me this video on their phone ... and I'm like, 'That's my son!'"

As of spring 2020, Roman is four years old, and his family continues to update his progress on Facebook.

Do you know someone with spina bifida? How have they coped with the condition? Let us know and be sure to pass Roman's uplifting story on to family members and friends.