Satori Lewis is like a lot of girls her age, with one major difference: she has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 2, the intermediate form of the genetic, neuromuscular disease. Because the muscle weakness caused by SMA, Satori has developed scoliosis and will soon be heading to California for spinal surgery. As her mother Melissa describes it, “they will open her back from the neck all the way down, insert 2 titanium rods, one on either side of her spine, wire the whole thing up and place donor bone in between all the vertebrae. Eventually it will all grow together “fusing” her spine into one long bone.”

After the surgery, Satori will have remain in the hospital for 7-10 days, but her mom has a plan to try to help that time pass better. Melissa has put out a request for postcards from around the US and the world to be delivered during her daughter’s hospital stay. The plan is to surprise this straight-A student with a new atlas where she can track where all the postcards originate. The hope is that Satori will get two things out of this: global well-wishes and a geography lesson.

For information about how you can send a postcard to Satori, click here.

At only 12 years old, Erinne Williams is already an inspiration to a lot of people. She was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) at 14 months of age and doctors predicted she wouldn’t live beyond her 8th birthday. Because of SMA, Erinne has endured more than most of her peers, including multiple hospitalizations and surgeries. While the wheelchair she depends on is plainly visible, the metal rods in her back that help to counteract scoliosis are not. In addition, Erinne depends on a ventilator to help her breathe and a feeding tube to help her eat. But, despite having a disease that progressively weakens her muscles and she knows will some day take her life, today, Erinne is a seventh grader who enjoys playing wheelchair sports like hockey, soccer, and baseball.

Erinne has made such an impact on her community, that it has even rallied around her and her family - literally. A pep rally was help at Erinne’s school as part of an attempt to convince the producers of the tv show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” to help Williams family obtain a wheelchair accessible house. The application to the show is pending.

To read more about Erinne, click here or here.

To see footage about Erinne, click here.