Girl thought to never walk again taking first steps

DACULA, Ga. — A 6-year-old girl critically injured in a car crash has made amazing progress.
 
Doctors originally told the girl's mother that her daughter would not only be paralyzed but would be unable to walk, think or speak.
 
More than two years later Briana Hudson is taking her first steps and is in school.
 
Briana was nearly killed in a car crash when two teens hit Briana's family's car head on.
 
The teens were killed. Briana's heart stopped; her prognosis was grim.
 
"Children's (Healthcare) had initially told us that she would never walk again," Denise Hudson, Briana's mother, said.
 
Davis was there four months ago when Briana took her first steps in a specially-fitted brace. Now she can move with a walker and almost no help from her therapist.
 
Each step has been hard fought, Hudson said.
 
"Eventually she'll be walking on her own with the walker, without assistance. And then from there they are going to put smaller braces on her," Hudson said.
 
What's making Briana's recovery even more difficult is that she had a spinal cord injury to deal with, along with a head injury that damaged her brain tissue.
 
Briana's ability to think and speak was unaffected. She's now in kindergarten, but the head injury also affected her movement and strength.
 
Bit by bit Briana's therapists says the girl's upper body is getting stronger.
 
"Now we're working on sitting up with just one hand or no hands," said therapist Noreen Scott, of Tender Ones Therapy Services in Dacula
 
 It may not seem like much, but each week Briana moves closer to independence.
 
"I would hope within a couple of years she will be independently walking," Hudson said.
 
The Hudsons are a family of faith. Hudson says her little girl rarely gives into dark moments or frustration and is excited about her future.
 
"Now she talks about when she starts running. It's all in God's time, but it's amazing," Hudson said.

WSBTV