GI returns to see once-stricken daughter walk

[unhappycamper]

Four-year-old Cheyenne Leslie, right, and her 2-year old sister Niome run to hug her mother at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Dec. 23.


GI returns to see once-stricken daughter walk
By Kelli Kennedy - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Dec 23, 2008 22:05:32 EST

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — On Tuesday morning, little Cheyenne Leslie entered the Ocean Medical Center and ran purposefully into the arms of her physical therapist, to the smiles and cheers of staff workers, the girl seemingly unhindered by her arm and leg brace. It was a dress rehearsal of sorts.

A few hours later, the 4-year-old diagnosed with cerebral palsy as an infant — who doctors once said would likely be confined to a wheelchair for life — ran through the airport terminal to greet a mother who has never even seen her child walk.

Cyd Leslie, an Army specialist who has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and other posts abroad for the past year and-a-half, has only seen her daughter’s steps on video.

The last time Leslie saw Cheyenne in person, she would take a few tentative steps and stumble.

So to finally see her walking, much less running, is nothing short of a miracle, a taste of everything her little girl will be able to accomplish in life.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_soldier_daughter_122308/%2e