LONDON: A cricket-mad Pakistani teenager, paralysed after being shot four times in the country's deadliest terror attack has made a "miraculous" recovery following treatment in the UK.
Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, 13, had been told by doctors in Pakistan that he would never walk again as he was paralysed from the waist down.
Muhammad was shot in his shoulder, his hip, and his back during the attack, damaging his lower spine - leading to paralysis.
At least 140 people, mostly children, were killed when Taliban gunmen stormed Peshawar's Army Public School last December. Muhammad's brother, Hamza was among those killed in the attack.
Muhammad, who arrived in London last month for surgery, is expected to be discharged from hospital soon, the BBC reported today.
"Seeing him I felt like my soul had left my body," says Muhammad's father, Sher Khan.
"Those nine months were the hardest in my life." But Khan and his wife, Sherbano, refused to believe that their cricket-mad son would never be able to use his legs again.
They campaigned, and appealed for financial help on Pakistani TV, gaining the support from people like cricketer- turned- politician Imran Khan.
They were able to raise funds to bring Muhammad to the UK and provide him with treatment at London's private The Harley Street Clinic.
Consultant neurosurgeon Irfan Malik described Muhammad as "terrified" when he first arrived at the hospital.
But during six hours of surgery, Malik and his team were able to reattach nerve endings and reconstruct the damaged part of the spine.
Even Malik was surprised at what happened next.
"Exactly one week after the surgery Muhammad stood up and started taking steps and walking."
"We were not expecting to get that sort of excellent result. That was miraculous," he says.
Less than two weeks after his operation, Muhammad is ready to leave hospital and start the long road to recovery.
He says he is determined to return to Pakistan, join the army and help fight terrorism.
"I feel like I have a second chance at life," he says.