PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon boy who was diagnosed two years ago with Acute Flaccid Myelitis, or AFM, has defied the odds stacked against him.
Hudson Zednik spent 20 days in a Boise hospital after his body shut down in October of 2016.
He lost all movement below the neck but would slowly gain some of it back.
"My right side doesn't really work because I can hardly hold up anything. This one I can hold a bunk bed," Hudson says.
His family moved from Baker City to Troutdale so he could start rehab. He spent three months at Randall Childrens Hospital.
When he first learned how to walk again, it even surprised him.
"I was like, 'I'm never going to walk again,' then my legs started moving and I'm like, 'I'm going to try this,' and mom was like, 'What are you doing?' She was crying like crazy, once again!" Hudson remembers.
Having the day off from school, he and his parents spent the day at the Oregon Zoo looking at the animals and walking the paths.
He's now two years removed from his diagnosis, celebrating a milestone and an upcoming birthday. His birthday wish:
"A lot of Nintendo switch games!"
The CDC says that AFM affects one out of a million people, most commonly in children. So far there is no cure for Acute Flaccid Myelitis