“Unsung hero:” Brother would take a bullet for disabled sister

Lindsay Cochran is young, beautiful, and sweet.

She’s also in a wheelchair, thanks to being born with SMA – Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

In 2013, Lindsay’s family was given the Unsung Hero Award by K-LOVE, a national Christian radio station. An incredibly touching video, highlighting the relationship between Lindsay and her older brother, is going viral online. In the video, Lindsay’s brother says that he would take a bullet for her and that he has no idea what he would do without her. You can almost feel the love he feels for his sister, whom he calls his “best friend.”

A YouTube commenter expresses it well:

The Cochran Family - Unsung Hero Award

While this brother is indeed astounding, the terrible thing is that babies like Lindsay can be freely aborted if their condition is recognized before birth. While SMA is a diagnosis – some babies die before the age of two – this does not mean that these babies’ lives are not worth living. A baby who is born with SMA will receive a great amount of love and care, whether his life is short or long. And this love is worth living for.

Don’t take my word for it. The beauty of the life Lindsay lives is evident in the story of her and her brother. And indeed, babies with SMA can live for years and still have a good quality of life. The founders of Fight SMA have a son with SMA who graduated from college five years ago. Fight SMA shares:

Our SMA Angels writes:

But despite the fact that these children deserve the same chance at life as any other child – and sound like absolutely precious individuals – a number of sites online that give parents information about SMA also tell them that abortion is an option. Just one troubling aspect to abortion and SMA is that it seems hard to give a hardcore diagnosis concerning the child’s future. As Fight SMA reports, there is still “a great deal of confusion among patients, parents, and physicians as to the diagnosis.” The disease can also be “severe or relatively benign.”

Our SMA Angels informs readers:

Here’s the bottom line: whether a child lives for eight months or eighty years, whether she has a disability or none at all – she is equally worthy of being loved and valued, just like Lindsay Cochran. With people like Lindsay in this world, we, just like her big brother, cannot help but be changed forever.