Two days before Christmas this little girl, Eden Hoelscher and her sister were waiting for their mum to get ready to take them Christmas shopping.

They were clowning around together, as sisters tend to do, practicing their gymnastics moves.

A handstand, a cartwheel, a backbend.

At one stage the girls’ mum, Kylee walked past and, as mums tend to do, told them to be careful.

Kylee says she was just about to get in the shower when her older daughter, Isabella, 9, came in.

“Eden’s on the floor, crying'” she told her.

In a second the lives of the Hoelscher family had changed forever.

Eden was rushed to hospital. ( Source: Screengrab KTLA News.)

Kylee rushed to the aid of her five-year-old and found Eden crying. After a few moments she calmed her down enough so that Eden could walk to her room and put on her shoes ands they left to go shopping but Kylee says Eden was still upset and complaining about her legs, so she turned the car around and went back home.

“I said, ‘Just lay down and take a nap, maybe you’ll feel better,'” Kylee told GMA.

“She kind of looked at me and said, ‘Mummy, it feels like my legs are asleep,’ but her legs were in this strange position, so I said, ‘Eden, move your legs. She said, ‘I can’t.’ Then, I stood her up and her legs buckled under her and we went to the emergency room.”

The little girl from California in the US has been paralysed ever since, an MRI found a contusion on her spine meaning she can not walk, her bowels and bladder do not function and her body cannot regulate its own temperature anymore.

Eden now can not walk and doctors do not know if she will recover. ( Source: Screengrab KTLA News.)

“In one instant, that backbend altered our lives forever,” Kylee wrote on a GoFundMe page set up for Eden.

She writes:

Kylee says the diagnosis has been devastating. She told ABC News:

Eden’s mum, Kylee “It’s just a backbend and it’s just devastating. ” ( Source: Screengrab KTLA News.)

“The damage, it’s her entire spine and it doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s just a backbend and it’s just devastating. You go from watching your 100 percent independent kid who dressed herself, put her hair in a pony tail … to not being able to get out of bed and it’s almost impossible to bear.”

Eden’s doctors say they can not fully explain how the simple backbend paralysed the five-year-old, but say parents should know it is a rare occurrence.

Julie Hershberg, Eden’s neurological physical therapist, told ABC News “It’s just one of those enigmas.”

As Eden beings the long road towards attempting to regain some mobility her family watch, amazed,  at her resilience.

“But what that backbend hasn’t done is take away Eden’s spirit. Her physical therapist, two days after meeting her at acute rehab, nicknamed her, “Daredevil Eden.” Her therapy team said she accomplished more in two weeks of rehab than most kids accomplish in six” her mother says.

“Even if she doesn’t walk again, [I] just want her to know she’s the most amazing person out there.”

“But what that backbend hasn’t done is take away Eden’s spirit.” ( Source: Go Fund Me)

She writes that while walking is the ultimate goal for Eden, and that they find it difficult to consider that she may not regain her mobility, there are more pressing realities.

“90% of children with spinal cord injuries before age ten develop scoliosis later on in life. If she does not start standing, her bones will become weak and brittle and she will develop osteoporosis and could break a bone with the lightest tap. Her kidneys are at risk, and she could develop arthritis.”

She is hoping that therapy may also help regenerate Eden’s bowel and bladder functions and bring back sensation to her lower body.

“Because of Eden’s spirit and resiliency, we have never lost hope in her full recovery. Anyone who encounters Eden, including doctors, nurses and therapists always have the same response: ‘If anyone can recover from this, it’s Eden’ ”

Best of luck Eden. We are cheering you on.

You can find Eden’s Go Fund Me page here.