Mahi's Fight to Walk Makes Her a Hospital Celebrity

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Mahi's bubbly personality, positive attitude and hard work in physical and occupational therapy has made her a patient celebrity at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital. After her parents were in a car accident, Mahi was born prematurely and she spent 45 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where she had a brain scan that showed the family would need to keep a close on her developmental milestones as she grows.

By 8 months old, Mahi was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the most common motor disability in childhood, caused by a brain injury due to a lack of oxygen before, during or after childbirth. Even with intense therapy, Mahi struggled to walk, so her parents turned to the Johns Hopkins All Children's Institute for Brain Protection Sciences for options. Mahi underwent a four-hour surgery led by George Jallo, M.D., called selective dorsal rhizotomy, a lower spinal cord surgery to improve her gait. Now, Mahi is doing better than ever and walking on her own, while continuing to work hard with her occupational therapy team, including Cody Wipperman, OTR/L, who Mahi shares a special bond with and calls her "best friend".