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15th Feb 2018

Two-year-old girl overcomes paralysis after cancer to learn to walk

Her parents were told to expect the worst.

Anna O'Rourke

“My girl is running around in remission bitches.”

A little girl who was never expected to walk after having cancer has beat the odds to overcome her paralysis.

Doctors found a tumour pressing on Hilarie’s spine when she was 16 months old in October 2016.

A post shared by Sara Z (@hilariesjourney) on

The infant was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma.

“The tumour was in her abdomen and grew to the point where it ended up compressing her spinal cord, leaving her paralysed,” her mother Sara Zamkotowich, from Manitoba in Canada, said.

Hilarie immediately underwent radiation and chemotherapy but her family was told to expect the worst – that she would never walk.

Fast forward to today and two-year-old Hilarie, who is now in remission, can be seen running round in new photos shared by her mum on Twitter.

“Stage 4 cancer WHO?,” Sara wrote.

“Paralyzed from the belly button down WHOOOO???? My girl is running around in remission bitches.”

Hilarie finally began to walk in October of last year, 12 months after her diagnosis.

“We did seven rounds of chemotherapy, surgery – they removed 95 per cent of the tumour – stem cell transplant, 20 days of radiation, and some immunotherapy,” explained Sara.

A post shared by Sara Z (@hilariesjourney) on

Hilarie will be three in June and is delighted to be getting better, her mum added.

“Hilarie doesn’t understand everything but she definitely understands what the hospital does and what it means.

“She knows about ‘pokes’ (injections) and how we might not come home if we go there (admissions), so she is VERY happy that there are less pokes and more home time!”