This week we meet our last family of the season to shoot our finale, and what an amazing and fitting story to close out another great year. We are in Indianapolis, Indiana to meet the McFarlands: Bernard and his three boys, Domonique, Curtis and Courtney.
Bernard McFarland is a pillar of this community, and he's an amazing father. He's raising his three boys on his own in a house that's ...
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This week we're in Jamesville, North Carolina to meet the Cooper family. To say that Jeff Cooper is an American hero might be a bit of an understatement. He served in the US Army as a Combat Medic in "Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm." During that time, he earned two Army Commendation Medals, the Army Achievement medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Humanitarians Service Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) Army Service Ribbon, a Combat Medical Badge, Expert Field Medical Badge Expert Rifle Badge and Expert Grenade Badge.
Like so many of his fellow soldiers who served in the first Gulf War, Jeff Cooper ...
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Born with no legs and only one fully developed arm, Mary Ann Riojas is no stranger to adversity. After graduating from high school, Mary Ann fell in love, got married and had four children. Soon after the birth of her fourth child, the marriage ended. She enrolled in college and for the first time in her life and she got her driver's license. With renewed independence, she earned her Associates Degree in business and immediately ...
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So this season, we're all about celebrating heroes and this week were celebrating the Akers family in beautiful Holt, Michigan.
There's no shortage of heroes in the Akers' home. Greg and Ginger Akers have three children, Christian, Brooke, and Faith. Little Brooke and Faith suffer from SMA, spinal muscular atrophy. It's a horribly debilitating disease, and they can't walk. They're in chairs, and this house is working against them. Spinal muscular atrophy is the number one genetic killer of children under two years old. One in 40 people carry the gene and one out of 6,000 children are born with it. The fact that these two girls have SMA is bad enough, but Greg and his son Christian both have Crones disease, which is a gastrointestinal disease that can be devastatingly painful. Despite their conditions, this family wakes up every morning with a smile on their face, and they always put others first. To me, that's a true hero.
Read much more from Michael after the jump.
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So this season, we're all about celebrating heroes and this week were celebrating the Akers family in beautiful Holt, Michigan.
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