Like many 2-year-old girls, Sonya Morrison of Little Mountain has a sweet smile, loves the cartoon character Dora the Explorer and shares her opinion every once in a while.

“No. No. No. No,” Sonya says while coloring a picture and sitting on her grandmother’s lap.

“That’s her favorite word,” Sonya’s grandmother, Debra Southerland, says with a smile.

But, unlike other toddlers her age, Sonya can’t walk—or not yet anyway.

Sonya’s grandparents, who are also her primary caregivers, noticed a peculiar stiffness in Sonya early on.

Her hands were “always balled up” and her feet curled, says Debra Southerland.

And she wasn’t on pace with others her age developmentally and she struggled with balance, says James Southerland, Sonya’s grandfather.

“It’s a little tough sometimes,” he says.

At age one, Sonya was diagnosed with cerebral palsy—a disorder that limits body movement and muscle coordination.

Around that time, Sonya began therapy at Newberry County Memorial Hospital. The little girl didn’t have much of a vocabulary and screamed a lot, says Sarah Brickley, Sonya’s occupational therapist.

Plus, Sonya had a difficult time getting around on her own.

On the floor, Sonya would “commando crawl,” pulling herself forward on the ground by pressing her elbow to the floor while pulling her other shoulder ahead.

“Her legs were so straight. She couldn’t bend them,” says Brickley.

In more than a year’s time, Sonya is more mobile, but still unable to walk.

But in April, Debra Southerland heard keywords on NBC’s newscast segment called “Making a Difference” that gave the Southerland family hope for Sonya.

“I heard ’cerebral palsy’ and that caught my attention,” she says.

The broadcast showed a little girl around Sonya’s age with cerebral palsy and a procedure that helped her to walk on her own.

“James, rewind that,” Sonya’s grandmother called to her husband.

For cerebral palsy patients, the “life-changing surgical technique,” as reported by NBC, has helped 1,800 kids as of April with a 100 percent success rate.

In the surgery, neurosurgeon Dr. T.S. Parks identifies and cuts nerve rootlets causing muscle spasms that prevent movement.

So, the next day, Debra Southerland called the hospital that performs the surgery asking about surgery for Sonya.

The St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s head therapist called back that same day, but needed more specifics on Sonya’s condition before moving forward.

“There has to be a potential to get better for the surgery,” said Ashley Caughman, Sonya’s physical therapist.

So Brickley videotaped Sonya for three weeks, as required by the St. Louis Hospital.

Three months later in July, the Southerlands received the news that Sonya was approved for the surgery.

The Southerlands left Sunday for the week-long surgery trip in St. Louis.

While Debra Southerland isn’t thrilled about flying, she is excited, along with everyone else in Sonya’s circle, about what the surgery could mean for Sonya—walking.

Sonya along with her grandparents and therapists sat among coloring books, new clothes and books from hospital workers to make her hospital stay more comfortable.

Because the little 2-year-old has a tough road ahead.

Sonya was scheduled to have the surgery Tuesday and that is by no means the end of her journey to healing.

St. Louis Children’s Hospital prescribes intensive therapy for Sonya after surgery when she’s back in Newberry, but the Newberry hospital staff is ready.

“We don’t stop with what we think we know,” says Brickley. “We’ll find a way.”

For more information on Sonya’s surgery, visit http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/medservices/RecentPress.htm.

To help the Southerland’s with Sonya’s expanding medical costs, donate to Sonya’s Way account at First Community Bank, P.O. Box 580, Chapin, SC 29036.