Emma’s Voice One family’s mission to raise the money needed to fund their daughter’s treatment – Duncan Banner

Emma Harper is a non-verbal 10-year-old from Duncan who has battled against cerebral palsy and a broad spectrum genetic disorder her entire life but now, with the help of a new stem cell treatment she could finally find her voice.

One day, Emmas parents Micah and Tara Sears Harper found a video online of a young girl with the same type of cerebral palsy as Emma. Stem cell treatments helped the girl have a better quality of life and Micah has hope the treatments will do the same for Emma.

Really what the STEM cell treatment is supposed to do is it finds where it needs to go, Micah said. Because stem cells go to what we are hoping is going to be the areas of her brain that were damaged and start repairing that area, so she can be more verbal were hoping that through this she is going to be able to find her voice.

Its an expensive process which totals around $25,000, but the family is hoping the community will aid them in their journey through a ministry they created.

The ministry is called Give One, and was started through the Harpers church as a means to give the community a chance to get involved and so far Duncan has answered the call.

We went to our pastors and started Give One, Micah said. Off the cuff we said You know what? If everybody in Duncan contributed $1 we could fund this. The outpouring we have had has been overwhelming there are some donation buckets at the Duncan Golf and Tennis Club and some of the girls are contributing like 25 percent of their tips every day its overwhelming the response we have had.

While the program is currently helping Emma, the family wants Give One to branch out in the future to help the county as well.

Our vision is to go beyond the treatment for Emma, Micah said. We want this to be a grass roots, community-driven ministry to provide that outreach and we will take one cause at a time and fundraise for that, for their needs.

The support from Duncan has helped galvanize and give a measure of hope to the family and that emotion seems to be a recurring theme for Emmas parents.

Much of that hope comes from Emma, who has broken through every barrier thats been set in front of her.

We never gave up hope that she would one day be able to speak, Micah said. We were told by doctors whenever she was much younger that she should probably institutionalized, that she wouldnt walk, she wouldnt talk. She really has beat the odds (sic). She can walk. She can walk on her own but if its long distances, we of course have durable medical equipment.

The 10-year-old hasnt let illness hold her back from enjoying life, and has even taken part in several marathons with some help from her family, signing Again at the end of every race.

Its a fun moment for Emma and a proud one for a family who views their daughter like any other child.

She doesnt realize that she is any different than any of her peers, Micah said. Shes like every other kid. She goes to mainstream school at Horace Mann. She has an aid that helps her throughout the day and its important for us to give her a normalcy and [for her] to know she is not her disease. That she has abilities to contribute.

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 29 at The Palace Theatre, there will be a bingo night with prizes and proceeds, all of which will go towards funding for Emmas treatment.

Donations can also be made at SCWCduncan.com through their PayPal account, with the donations labeled for Give One.

Max.Terrell@DuncanBanner.com

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Emma's Voice One family's mission to raise the money needed to fund their daughter's treatment - Duncan Banner