4est_4est_Gump
Run Forrest! RUN!
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- Sep 19, 2011
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Kim Taylor calls her son Forrest Gump, because “he just won’t stop running” – and doctors once told her he would never walk unassisted.
Born 10 weeks early, Matthew Taylor was just six months old when his parents noticed he wasn’t using his right hand. He was diagnosed as right-side hemiplegic, and soon after with cerebral palsy.
“I think I grieved for probably 24 hours for the child that I thought I had, versus what I had. Then we started therapy immediately,” Taylor said.
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Things took a turn for the worse when he hit a growth spurt at 14 years old. His body had developed a tolerance to the Botox injections, nearly paralyzing his legs. That’s when doctors introduced Matthew and his family to the idea of the SynchroMed II Programmable Pump by Medtronic.
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The pivotal moment came last April when he noticed he could turn on the TV with his right hand. Immediately his speech improved. He could bend and twist and became more active.
By August, he joined the school’s cross-country team.
Matthew and his family felt anxious about this: Would he have any endurance? Would he injure himself?
Not only was Matthew able to finish a race, he amazed his family and coaches by keeping up. His teammates showed their support by coming from the sidelines and finishing with him.
“And that was the beginning of Forest Gump,” Taylor said. “He has not stopped. He ran the entire season, and he never quit.”
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And he hasn’t just been an inspiration to his coaches and family – this summer Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow caught wind of Matthew and invited him to visit him at training camp.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/...-half-marathon/?intcmp=features#ixzz1jQkABmae