Brave schoolboy Marshall Janson is walking for the first time ever – thanks to his new prosthetic legs which make him feel ‘like an action hero’.
The five-year-old was left with no arms and legs after he suffered meningitis when he was a one-year-old baby.
But thanks to a pair of specially-made £12,000 prosthetic blades, the bubbly youngster can now run and leap around with his playmates for the first time.
Marshall’s bespoke limbs have been specially created to look like his favourite kids’ TV hero.
And after trying them on for the first time, thrilled Marshall told his proud mum Stephanie Harris: ‘I’m just like a real Power Ranger mummy’.
Stephanie, 33, a full-time house wife, said: ‘Marshall was ecstatic when he first saw his blades. He is Power Rangers-mad and his friends in school are all really impressed.
‘He is able to get around much easier now and is as fast as the other kids which he loves. He is also a lot taller now which is great. He feels like just like he’s a real action hero.’
Marshall, of Perranporth, Cornwall, was taken to hospital on Boxing Day 2008 – just six days after his first birthday.
He had playing with his new presents when Stephanie noticed he had a temperature and a strange bruise on his forehead.
The medical staff rushed him into intensive care and confirmed he had been struck down by Meningococcal Meningitis.
Stephanie Harris with daughter Lexi Janson aged 3, her partner Moss Janson and Marshall Janson aged 5. (SWNS) The killer disease ravaged the little boy’s body and his vital organs began to fail and blood was no longer being circulated to his limbs.
They soon became dead and blackened due to the damage caused by septicaemia and doctors had no choice but to amputate his legs and half his arms.
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But after four weeks in intensive care Marshall pulled through and crucially his brain remained undamaged.
Brave Marshall said his new legs make him feel ‘like an action hero’. (SWNS) The youngster was eventually able to return home where Stephanie and car painter dad Moss Janson, 35, nursed him back to full health and began planning his future.
Stephanie said: ‘It was heartbreaking when we first found out Marshall was going to lose his legs and arms.
‘He loves playing but used to say to me ‘mummy, I can’t keep up with my friends.”
After researching different types of prosthetic limbs Stephanie, who also has a daughter Lexi, three, came across Dorset Orthopaedic, one of the country’s leading providers of replacement limbs.
The firm’s engineers came up with a lightweight, state-of-the art design and colour scheme that let Marshall move – and look like – a Power Ranger.
Stephanie said: ‘When they said they could make the limbs with a Power Rangers theme we were thrilled as he’s such a huge fan.
‘Marshall loves both the gold and blue rangers so we opted for the blue one but with a gold stripe on the blades.
‘What’s even better is that he’s now able to fully join in with all the fun and games at school.’
Marshall’s space age blades last between six months and a year, depending on how fast he grows.
In the coming weeks he will be getting a second set that are specially designed to use when sitting and he will also need prosthetic arms when he’s older.
The total cost throughout his childhood could be as high as £950,000 so his family started the Handstand appeal in May 2009 which has raised over £300,000 to date.
Stephanie said: ‘It’s a lot of money but it’s making a world of difference to Marshall. It’s great that he’ll be able to get so much more out of his time at school – his favourite lesson is now PE.’
To donate towards Marshall’s appeal visit www.handstand.org.uk
'I feel like an action hero!' Schoolboy, five, who lost arms and legs to meningitis can finally walk thanks to prosthetic legs
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