A visually impaired 13-year-old with a heart of gold stunned audiences at a Minor League Baseball game in South Carolina with his beautiful rendition of the national anthem.
“There were people from all over the world who were united under the American national anthem. It’s not even their national anthem, but they notice the beauty behind it,” Sawyer McCarthy’s mom, Brianna McCarthy, 31, told The Epoch Times.
However, beyond the popularity of the clip, Mrs. McCarthy said: “The story behind that video has more meaning than a lot of people are aware of.”
Sawyer, who is blind, has cognitive delays and some learning disabilities due to his condition—optic nerve hypoplasia and septo-optic dysplasia—and has never had singing lessons.
“He started singing the national anthem before Friday morning meetings,” Mrs. McCarthy said. “If there was a birthday in the class, he would be the first one to start Happy Birthday. ... We kind of let him take the lead.
“Sawyer just ventured into singing, and it started off really small within school chorus programs.”
Last year the McCarthys were contacted by a baseball team, the Columbia Fireflies, to see if Sawyer would be interested in singing “God Bless America” on July 3, and the family agreed. Needless to say, Sawyer was “phenomenal” despite never having sung the song before.
In early 2024, the McCarthys were contacted by the Columbia Fireflies again to check Sawyer’s availability to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” for a game on April 28.
Again, Sawyer happily obliged. However, before the game, the McCarthys were hit by shocking news: Sawyer’s beloved grandfather was diagnosed with glioblastoma.
This time, as Sawyer sang the national anthem, his grandfather was in the hospital waiting to undergo brain surgery.
Mrs. McCarthy explained that Sawyer’s grandfather had accompanied him the first time he sang. Understanding how important it was that he watch his grandson sing that day, Mrs. McCarthy FaceTimed her father before the game.
What she didn’t know was that the Colombia Fireflies had also videotaped Sawyer’s brilliant performance and shared the clip online. It wasn’t long before his video went viral.
Mrs. McCarthy was amazed as she watched the view count on the video soar past a million views in the following weeks. It quickly reached over 10 million views. Whenever she’d update Sawyer on the view count his response would be characteristic of his inner humility.
“Every single time, his response has always been the same,” Mrs. McCarthy said. “He just smiles and says, ‘Mom, that’s really cool.’”
“He knows it’s not about him, he wants everyone to know that God gave him this talent, God gave him this gift of his voice,” she said. “And he always is sure to point back the credit where credit is due: this is all God, all the glory goes to Him.”
The proud mother is happy that her son’s talent has reached across the world.
Defying His Disabilities
Sawyer was born on Nov. 10, 2011, when both his parents were young and with no extended family around. The hardships they faced as young parents were compounded at a doctor’s appointment when Sawyer was 3 months old.An ophthalmologist dilated little Sawyer’s eyes and explained that his optic nerve looked “dead.” An MRI scan revealed that the midline structure of Sawyer’s brain was extremely thin—almost nonexistent— and his optic nerves were undeveloped.
Sawyer was then diagnosed with optic nerve hypoplasia and septo-optic dysplasia. This diagnosis shook his parents.
“You add in the level of being a young parent and then you coincide being a special needs parent and it was like our world had completely flipped upside down,” Mrs. McCarthy said. “[But] lo and behold, the Lord just used this little tiny baby to completely change our lives in the best way possible.”
Despite his disabilities, Sawyer has never let anything stop him from pursuing his goals.
“He has this spirit about him where, even if my husband and I don’t maybe know what we’re doing, he always encourages us,” Mrs. McCarthy, a mother of six, said. “That’s who he is. That’s his heart. He’s an encourager.”
Sawyer has different needs that change as he grows, however, his parents continue to navigate through the challenges as best they can.
“And really, truthfully, he makes it so easy,” Mrs. McCarthy said, explaining that Sawyer’s cheerful personality helps her and her husband care for him.
Apart from his incredible voice, Sawyer—who has five other siblings: Chance, Sutton, Scout, Sally, Kate, and Foster—has unique interests such as lawn mowing and using drills and other noisy tools.
Sawyer also absolutely loves God and listens to the Bible each day.
“He wants to be a pastor one day, he wants to use his voice to worship, he wants to sing,” his mom said.
In sharing Sawyer’s story with the world, Mrs. McCarthy said:
“I just hope that people look at Sawyer and realize that we have way more capability than we realize, as humans. I wish that we as a society would be much more gentle with ourselves, gentle with others, that we would get more grace, be more kind. … The world needs that.”
