The Washington Times recently ran a lovely piece about the Lee Family of Ellicott City, Maryland. Emily Hope Lee, the third daughter of Nathan and Diana Lee, has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The article describes some of the struggles that the Lee family has faced in their battle with SMA and provides a little insight into how their faith has impacted their fight.

Here is an excerpt from the article, “Hope is her middle name” by Julia Duin:

Emily Lee, with her large brown eyes, pale ivory skin and two small jet-black pigtails, has clung to life for 2 years and 5 months.

She cannot crawl, sit up, move her head or even swallow because of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The genetic disease that prevents the production of muscle protein kills half of the affected children by the age of 2. The rest die by their teens.

Her family is just grateful that Emily has lived to see her second Christmas. The child lives between life and death, enjoying “Veggie Tales” and “Dora the Explorer,” baths and van rides to her church, Columbia Presbyterian, where her parents sit in the back, ready to dash out the door if Emily’s health were to fail.

To read the full article and to see a slideshow of pictures, click here. To keep up with the Lee Family, visit their website www.hopeforemily.com.

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