Sisters scream with joy, watching their 4-year-old sister take her first steps. Scottie Mae Blair knows that she has built-in best friends for life. They are the ones who will know her like they know someone else. They will be the ones with whom she gets to share memories, her laughter, and sometimes the tears. They will be her constant cheerleaders, ready to support her through triumphs and challenges. In this incredibly sweet video, her sisters cheered her on as she took her first steps.
The video was captioned, “When Scottie was 10 months old, we were told she would never walk. Now at four, look at her take her first meaningful steps.”
When Scottie was just a baby, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called Angelman Syndrome. Her parents were told she would never do anything an ordinary little girl would do, like read a book, go to school, walk, or talk. But her parents loved her fiercely and had faith that she would defy the bleak diagnosis she had been given.
A year later, when she was two years old, they did find out that Scottie had been misdiagnosed. She actually had DUP15q syndrome, which is a similar yet less severe disorder.
Scottie attended four different kinds of therapy every week to learn how to do the basics, like eating, maintaining her strength, and more. Despite the grueling schedule, her sisters and parents cheered her on whenever she accomplished the most minor skill. They had hopes and dreams that she would learn to walk one day. It would mean she would have more independence and freedom.
They never gave up on that prayer. But then came the day when she was standing on her feet between her mom and dad, and Scottie took her first steps. Everyone was stunned and overjoyed!
The moment she took her first steps, her mom Logan, fell apart in tears. She said, “Seeing her take her first steps felt so good—like seeing all the work paying off.” She added, “Her sisters are going crazy, they are her biggest cheerleaders and want to see her succeed.”
Scottie Mae is living proof God is the author and perfecter of our stories. He created Scottie Mae, and He had plans for her to defy the odds in all that she does. What an incredible moment of victory for Scottie and her family!
1 John 3:10 “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”