Emotional video shows 2-year-old taking first steps since cranial surgery
A toddler who walked just two days after receiving surgery is warming hearts in a powerful video captured by his mom.
Heather Figueroa filmed her son Branson tqking his first steps at Vermont Medical Center in Burlington on Oct. 18. The 2-year-old had received a seven-hour procedure to correct craniosynostosis -- a condition in which joints between the bones of the skull close too early, causing problems with normal brain and skull growth.
Figueroa posted the emotional video to Facebook and it was soon shared by news outlets all over the world, she said.
"I was bawling with joy. I was just so proud," Figueroa told "Good Morning America. "He was just escatic and he was guided by my voice. We complain about the smallest things in life and for him to walk after this surgery, as happy and determined as he was, is so beautiful."
Craniosynostosis is a birth defect, but Figueroa said she first noticed Branson's head was mishapen in May after he had a haircut. He was diagnosed on June 8.
Later, parents chose surgery in hopes Branson could avoid symptoms like seizures, poor feeding, developmental delays and more which are listed by the Columbia Unversity Department of Neurology.
The surgery was a success on Oct. 16. Not only did Branson walk down the hall with his nurse, but he also sang "Happy Brithday" to his older brother Jameson from his hospital bed.
