‘Normal Person Here — Human Being’


“Normal person here — human being,” is the perfect description Trenton Cochran, 12, gives of his sister Lindsay Cochran, 10. Lindsay was born with SMA, a rare neuromuscular disability that affects her ability to walk. She was never able to crawl or walk before becoming a powerchair-user.

I’ve heard a lot of ways to say what he is saying about his sister, but I gotta admit … his is one of the best. It’s succinct and pretty darn insightful for an 12 year old. Lindsay is a couple of years younger than him and the two have been close since they were babies.

In an award-winning video featuring the two, they are interviewed about Lindsay’s disability and it is quite something to behold. Go on over and watch it right now before you do anything else. I’m not one for tear-jerker videos usually, but this one is so good and so important.

Since hitting the Internet, the video won the Unsung Hero Award, a K-Love Fan ward and it has over 600,000 views on YouTube. It’s only two minutes long, but holy cow is it full of some powerful stuff. It’s also been covered by big media outlets like Fox and the Huffington Post.

Full of poignant one-liners like, “I would take a bullet for my sister” and “She’s my best friend,” sometimes kids say things the best. We often don’t think kids are capable of such selflessness, but Trenton definitely changes this misconception. As the two grow up, I’m sure they’ll stay just as close too (hopefully whoever they end of dating or marrying won’t get jealous of their relationship imho).

The thing is, you just can’t take away your childhood. It’s a critical part of your development; it’s so forming. It’s hard to get away from those roots. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that not every brother-sister relationship is this close, even when one of them has a disability.

My brother and I aren’t close at all, and I was paralyzed at 14. He was 15 and a half. If anything my disability made us less close. But that’s another story. Trenton and Lindsay, meanwhile, show this doesn’t have to be the case. These two have an amazing bond that shows disability truly can be invisible to some people. I love it so much.

Now go ahead and watch it to see what the heck I’m talking about. It’s not every day such a strong video on disability acceptance is made. Hopefully millions more people will get the opportunity to see this too. It really has the power to change perceptions about disability.

— Watch the video: The Cochran’s — Unsung Hero Award

Has your disability made you closer to your siblings or has it had opposite effect?


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Wave Wolf
Wave Wolf
9 years ago

Beautiful to watch this video! My disability, late in life, caused my sister (2 years younger) to try to take advantage of me financially and emotionally. For survival, I need to stay away from her.