Woman told she would never walk again hopes to inspire others

"My dad always told me, 'good things come to those who wait. You can do it. Push. If you really want something really bad, push it,'" said Christina Tilton.

The Burton resident is a warrior.

"A virus named transverse myelitis attacked my nervous system when I was 14. Then doctors told me I would never walk again. I was paralyzed from the neck down," Tilton said.

The virus is very rare. It's when your spinal cord becomes inflamed on both sides

Tilton went from being an able-bodied 14-year-old girl on her high school's cheerleading squad to stuck in a wheelchair, unable to move.

"It's like you're in a prison in your own body. It was hard for me," she said.

All of her doctors said she would never walk again, but Tilton refused to listen.

"They told me there's, 'no hope of recovery. You're going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life.' And I looked at them like that's what you think. Because my God's my healer and you can't tell me I'm not gonna walk again. You didn't walk on water, God did," Tilton said.

Tilton walks in the water during her physical therapy. It's just the first step in reaching her many goals.

In the 19 years she has spent in her wheelchair, Tilton said she has found the silver lining.

"I never knew I could sing until I was put in a wheelchair," Tilton said.

Singing became her true passion in life. Now she wants to inspire others to find theirs, no matter the circumstances.

"I wanna inspire people that you can do anything you dream, no matter if you have a disability or not. Fight for it and don't let anyone tell you you can't. Because it's up to you. You control your own life," Tilton said.

As she continues moving forward and striving for her goals, she said she will always keep singing and she'll remember what her day used to say, "good things come to those who wait."

Tilton said the next step in her recovery would be getting into therapeutic horseback riding. She created a GoFundMe page to raise money to make that happen.