Healthy Living Channel

SMA & The Magic Wheelchair

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Our guest this week is Lana Weimer. She and her husband Ryan are the parents of five children, two of whom have SMA-
Spinal muscular atrophy or SMA. It is a disease that robs people of physical strength by affecting the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord, taking away the ability to walk, eat, or breathe. It is the number one genetic cause of death for infants.


Their oldest son Keaton is 10 years old, a few years ago he and his dad decided to make an amazing wheelchair costume for halloween. This led to the formation of their foundation Magic Wheelchair

Episode Segments

Heaven Sent and Bent: Lana Weimer

What if you discovered that every time you and your true love made a baby, that baby would have a 25% chance of having a terminal illness? If you were told that if the child even lived very long, you would watch their bodies deteriorate and you would bury them for certain. Would you be brave enough to carry a child with this prognosis? My guest today was brave enough, is brave enough. She does not care if her children are not perfect. She does not care if her days are spent serving her children. Lana Weimer is a walking-talking example of unconditional love. Lana wears the title of Mother with pride and can think of nothing else she would rather be called. To learn more about the Weimer family and to see how they, in spite of what they are dealing with, are giving back to the community.

Links to Related Websites

The Magic Wheelchair

Magic Wheelchair is a nonprofit organization that turns wheelchairs into the envy of every trick-or-treater. These wheelchair costumes have been tremendously successful; They have even been featured in newspapers, on television, and the subject of a very successful Kickstarter campaign. Magic Wheelchair seeks to do this for every child in a wheelchair.

Friday • March 20

CST 9:11 | EST 10:11 | MST 8:11 | PST 7:11 | GMT 6:11

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