Duck Teaches Boy To Walk

When four-year-old Finlay Lomax suffered a stroke as a baby and developed cerebral palsy, doctors said he’d be confined to a wheelchair his entire life. But he’s managed to prove them all wrong with the help of a duckling.
Finlay’s breakthrough came when his mother Becci, 29, took in a tiny yellow hatchling, Ming-Ming, after a farmer friend told her he was going to be put down because of a splayed leg.
‘When Ming-Ming laid down or sat down, his leg was right up near his head and he was unable to walk,’ Becci explains. ‘I was trying all over to find a vet who knew about ducks. At first I didn’t think he’d make it – I felt sick.’

After an extensive search, Becci found a suitable vet, who fitted him with a tiny splint. He began to limp around the family home as his leg strengthened.
As the little duckling made an amazing recovery, something else miraculous occurred. Young Finlay – whose condition affects his brain’s ability to send signals to his body – was so impressed by his new pet’s progress that he began copying his steps, saying: ‘I walk like the duck, Mummy.’
An ecstatic Becci couldn’t believe her eyes.
‘Finlay has been having physiotherapy his whole life but he never really responded until we got the duckling,’ she says. ‘As soon as Ming-Ming began walking, so did Finlay. I was brimming with pride.’
Finlay can now walk five metres at a time with the help of a Zimmer frame and he loves going for strolls with his best friend.

‘Finlay has really taken to him,’ Becci reveals. ‘He is now much stronger and it’s great to see him walking. I’ve told him that if he works hard one day he’ll be able to take Ming-Ming for walks on a lead. That is what he’s really working towards.’
Becci adds, smiling: ‘I’d been told Finlay might never be able to walk so it’s amazing to think he’s taking steps already thanks to the duckling.’