Girl with cerebral palsy nearly walking on her own after surgery

(FOX 2) - A girl born with a crippling condition is now making incredible progress, thanks to a surgery that's giving her the ability to almost walk on her own. 

"One day Darrenique decided at 25 weeks she was just going to come," said her mom, Lorraine Trotter.

Darrenique and her twin brother, Darren, were born nearly four months premature. Amazingly they survived, but something was off with Trotter's baby girl. 

"My son, her twin brother, started trying to pull up and roll over and she wasn't," Trotter said.

Doctors at Children's Hospital would eventually diagnose her with cerebral palsy. 

"I couldn't do nothing but cry, I didn't know how it was going to be like," Trotter said.

As she got older she didn't have much progress walking, until Dr. Neena Marupudi suggested a spinal surgery. The pediatric neurosurgeon is the only who performs it at Children's Hospital. It's called a Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy. 

"The parents, pretty much the day of surgery, are already seeing this night and day difference," said Dr. Marupudi.

"We decided to give her that chance," Trotter said.

Almost one year post surgery now, she's become a success story. 

"Not only are they learning how to walk they are learning to become more dependent," said Dr. Marupudi.

"I think we can get her out of her walker and walking all on her own," said Katelin Moule, Physical Therapist at Children's Hospital of Michigan. Moule has been Darrenique's physical therapist since she was 7 months old.

"She's been such a huge part of my life and I've loved to watch her grown," she said.

Trotter wants to see Darrenique and her twin brother walking side by side - and because of this surgery she's well on her way. 

"She is really a hero," said Lorraine. "Really amazing. She makes us all look at life totally different."