CHICAGO (CBS) — A 7-year-old boy from Gary, Ind., who was shot in the head last Christmas Eve has made what experts say was an unlikely recovery.

“I really do think it was a miracle,” said Molly Swenson, a physical therapist at La Rabida Children’s Hospital.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports, Leonard Rayshon Cobb III, was critically injured when he was wounded by a bullet, after someone fired into a home in the 1000 block of Durbin Avenue in Gary, while a party his to which his family had been invited was going on inside.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports

Rayshon was partially paralyzed, and in a coma, after the shooting.

But since then, he has come a long way.

“On paper, he looked like he was just going to be a mess, but he has this special drive in him,” Swenson said.

Cindy Herde is Rayshon’s speech pathologist.

“We worked on talking, communicating. We also worked on eating, which was very hard for him when he came in,” she said. “He wanted to eat ribs by the time that he went out.”

Rayshon returned to the hospital in Jackson Park for a follow-up appointment Tuesday, and found himself surrounded by cameras.

When asked if he felt like a celebrity, he said, “Yes.”

Rachel Kyle is Rayshon’s mother.

“It’s a great success; a real great success. I’m very proud,” she said.

In the Christmas Eve attack, police recovered multiple shell casings from the scene. Some neighbors heard up to six shots.

That stretch of Durbin Avenue where the shooting happened is a desolate block; pockmarked by vacant lots and as many abandoned homes as occupied houses. Cobb’s family does not live on the block, but was there for the party.

Gary Police Cpl. Gabrielle King said in December, “It’s always puzzling when someone would be as cowardly as to stand outside and shoot inside, because you never know who you’re going to hit. You don’t know where those bullets are going to go.”

The gunman in the shooting still has not been apprehended.