Local Mom’s Video Reaches 10 Million Viewers



Local Mom’s Video Reaches 10 Million Viewers
Local 15 month-old, Christian Buchanan, is gaining world-wide recognition after his mother, Lacey Buchanan of Woodbury, created a video that has been seen by more than 10 million viewers.  The video details the story of the pregnancy and birth of Christian who was born with a Tessier cleft lip and palate and cleft eyes.  Sarah Palin reposted the video detailing the story of Christian’s birth to her Facebook page in May after seeing the video on her daughter, Bristol Palin’s blog.

“He is the love of my life.  And he is a miracle,” Lacey says through note cards she holds up during the video that describes her initial struggle with the public’s reaction to her son’s condition, including one woman who told her she was a horrible person for not having an abortion.  Christian is now a growing and healthy baby, and his mother is proud of her decision to continue with her pregnancy.  

Christian’s condition originally left him nearly blind and unable to close his mouth.  While still visually impaired, Christian has endured several surgeries to repair his cleft lip and palate.  He is currently receiving physical, speech, and feeding therapy at Special Kids in Murfreesboro to help him reach developmental milestones.   

“Christian’s therapists light up when they see him and are just as proud as me when he accomplishes something new,” said Lacey Buchanan.  In speech therapy, Christian is working on imitating sounds and words and waving “bye.”  He is already making more sounds at home.  His feeding therapy is concentrating on exploring new tastes and he is now using a sippy cup to drink water.  Christian has also made significant gains in his physical therapy.  He is now able to get into a sitting position by himself, commando crawl, and stand at a stable surface independently.  He is continuing to work toward crawling on his hands and feet, pulling up to stand, and cruising at a stable surface.

“Special Kids has provided a solid foundation in our lives to be able to work towards helping Christian be successful and I am forever grateful for that!” said Buchanan.  “They don’t just provide services for Christian; they love our family and go out of their way to make our lives a little easier whenever they can.”

In order to give back to Special Kids, Lacey and her husband, Chris, formed Team Christian to participate in the Special Kids Race in March to raise funds for the organization.  Team Christian had nearly 100 participants and raised over $2,000 for Special Kids.

To see Lacey’s video or to learn more about Special Kids, visit the Special Kids website at specialkidstn.com of call 615.893.4892.

Special Kids is a Christian, nonprofit organization located in Murfreesboro, TN, that provides therapeutic rehabilitation and professional nursing services to children with special needs.  Since 1998, Special Kids has served over 2,200 families from 11 counties in middle Tennessee. For more information on Special Kids, please visit specialkidstn.com or call 615.893.4892.