Sarah Sanders became visibly emotional during Tuesday’s White House press briefing.
Sanders told the story of “nine-year-old Sophia” who suffers from a rare brain disease. The illness left Sophia partially paralyzed, but after numerous surgeries, Sophia is slowly regaining the ability to walk.
Sophia said she has “God” on her side and is scheduled for another brain surgery this week. She asked for prayers, and Sarah Sanders responded, sharing Sophia’s story with millions of people and telling her the President himself would be praying for her. Sanders said, choking back tears:
Today, I’m here to tell you millions of people from every corner of the world will be praying for you. Among those will be all of us, including President Trump. Here at the White House, he told me to tell you to keep fighting, never give up, and never lose faith in God. With Him, all things are possible.
Sanders full remarks are worth reading:
Today, an inspiring family and brave little girl from Brownfield, Texas are facing a challenge that inspiring their friends and neighbors and now, hopefully, a nation. Nine-year-old SophiaMaria Peters suffers from a rare disease that causes the blood vessels in her brain to narrow and close. Three years ago this condition resulted in severe strokes, leaving her partially paralyzed. She has undergone numerous surgeries but faced each one of them with a fearless exuberance for life. When doctors told her she would never walk again she dismissed them. “If you are only going to talk about what I cannot do, than I don’t want to hear it,” she said. Not only that she try, she succeeded, leaving her doctors dumbfounded.
When asked how she was doing these things she said “Because I am awesome.” During the holidays of 2016, Sophia had more strokes but she kept fighting. A neurosurgeon told her mom “This little girl has God on our side.”
These experiences led her mom to realize her daughter’s incredible faith could have a profound impact on others. In a world where things are so bad and ugly, so much loss of faith, she said “People needed to hear Sophia’s story so they could hear a true testament to God’s grace and His glory revealed.”
This Friday, Sophia will undergo brain surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital and she has a request: she has asked the world to come together and pray for her on the date of her surgery. In her mind, that mean creating a goal of reaching 10,000 people. We want to make sure she gets that and far exceeds it. Today I’m here to tell you millions of people from every corner of the world will be praying for you. Among those will be all of us, including President Trump. Here at the White House, he told me to tell you to keep fighting, never give up, and never lose faith in God. With Him, all things are possible.
Thought that was very inspiring. a great message for all of us to remember. Thank you, Sophia, for your strength and reminding us of that today. With that, I will take your questions…
