A 9-year-old patient at Maimonides Hospital is learning how to walk again after being diagnosed with a rare disorder.

Daniel Mikhelzon was admitted in December after complaining he wasn't feeling well.

"It was hard for me to breathe, so they had to intubate me," he said.

Daniel was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that occurs when a person's immune system attacks their own nerve cells.

"We don’t know exactly what why that happens, but we think it happens after having a common cold or virus," said attending physician Dr. Tali Caronia. "Your body‘s immune system goes haywire and creates antibodies against itself."

The disorder severely weakened Daniel's body, leaving him with blurry vision and unable to walk.

"It was scary," said Daniel's mother, Nataliya Mikhelzon. "I thought why my son? He’s 9-year-old child."

But after weeks of treatment, Daniel took his first steps on Jan. 1., just in time to ring in the new year.

"How he’s dealing with the pain, I think he’s doing a great job," said his mother.

Daniel will spend the next few weeks at rehab as he regains his strength.

He said his treatment has inspired him to become a doctor one day so he can pay it forward to other patients.