Family Has Hope for 3-year-old Thanks to MDA

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Teresa Johnson was devastated when her little girl was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, but the Muscular Dystrophy Association turned their lives around, and now they're hoping to do the same for someone else.

In many ways, Bri Johnson is just like any other 3-year-old. She's curious, a little feisty, and all too happy to show off her room.

But when Bri was just over one year old, her mother and grandmother both realized something was wrong.

"She quit wanting to move, quit wanting to stand independently, and crawling," said Bri's mother Teresa Johnson.

"So right then, I knew right away something was wrong," said Bri's grandmother Walkidia Gomez.

"When she first got diagnosed, we had to hit the internet hard and see what the heck spinal muscular atrophy was in the first place," Bri's mom said.

One of the hardest things was learning there was no cure after Bri was diagnosed.

"Next thing you ask is ‘Ok, what's the cure?' And when someone says 'There is no cure for your baby, there's nothing we can do, we don't even have any treatments,'" Walkidia said.

The diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy may have been frightening, but Bri's family found peace of mind through the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

"They were wonderful, they gave us different paths to go to get help," Bri's grandmother said. "The equipment, the wheelchair that Bri has, you know MDA helped pay for part of that."

"From the moment we called, they just welcomed us as family." Teresa said. "The love that they share and the concern, and just all the efforts they do to help Brihanna is amazing."

Teresa Johnson's plans for her daughter may have changed, but her confidence and her hopes have not.

"I believe they'll find a cure, that's all we have is our hope and belief that they will find a cure," Teresa said.

When NEWS 9 interviewed Bri, she took it upon herself to show just how far she's come by raising both her arms above her head. Bri's mother said without therapy, she couldn't raise them at all.

"Anybody else you know, if they have an athlete, you know they concentrate on that kid being the best he can or whatever. It's the same with Bri. We concentrate on what's going be best for her," said Bri's grandfather Paul Gomez.

Bri and her family are so grateful for MDA's help they want to help however they can.

"We're going to be advocates and spread whatever knowledge we have, whatever we can do to help anybody else," Bri's grandfather said.

"There's other parents, other families that's just been diagnosed, that are on the internet, they contact us," Walkidia said. "We say 'Find MDA in your area. They'll be able to help. Find MDA.' So it's a start, I mean we couldn't do it without them. I don't want to do it without them."

The MDA telethon starts Sunday, September 6 on NEWS 9 with our own Robin Marsh, Doug Warner and Darren Brown emceeing the event.