In November, the otherwise healthy teen was placed on life support in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Now, more than 130 days later, Zei’s determination and independence have helped her achieve something only a few patients before her could: She has walked while on life support. Despite being tethered to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, machine that is helping her breathe and keeping her alive, Zei has been determined to take every step possible to regain her lung function and strength, starting with walking.

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