11-year-old stroke victim beats the odds

The odds were stacked against Morgan Demming, a little girl from the Hampshire area.

Just 11 years old, she suffered a stroke and brain aneurysm in March.

Doctors predicted she wouldn't live to see her next birthday, giving her a 1 percent chance of survival.

And even if she pulled through, Morgan was expected to spend the rest of her life in the hospital.

But Morgan proved them wrong, and her mother, Sherry, reports she's now back on her feet -- literally.

After the stroke and aneurysm, the little lady was sidelined in a wheelchair and wore a helmet to protect her brain.

But with the help of a leg brace, Morgan is walking again. Moreover, the helmet's gone, revealing a healthy head of brown hair.

In another bit of good news, Morgan made the bronze honor roll her first quarter at Central Middle School in Burlington, her mother reports.

"She's holding her own with all the other kids," her mother said.

Morgan's story touched many people in the Fox Valley, with the Elgin VFW Post 1307, Nick's Pizza and her friends stepping up to hold fundraisers on her behalf.

The Kids Wish Network gifted her with a Nintendo Wii video game system.

But her road to recovery isn't over just yet.

Morgan attends rehab twice a week, relearning how to use her left hand.

Doctors say Morgan was born with a weak artery in her brain, which was the cause of her aneurysm and subsequent stroke, according to parents Sherry and Mark Demming.

And although she's had all the surgeries she needs thus far, it'll take six months to determine whether a certain procedure done to shrink open arteries in her brain, was successful.

Still, the little girl that her parents call a "miracle" has an entire community pulling for her.