Thirteen-year-old Sawyer McCarthy from South Carolina, despite being blind, has captured the attention of millions with his impressive vocal talent. Having sung the national anthem at a Columbia Fireflies game in April, his performance reached not only a domestic audience, but a global one as well.
Brianna McCarthy, Sawyer’s mother, narrated her conversation with Sawyer to CBS News, where she asked him how many people he thought saw his video. When he responded with ‘four’, she corrected him, saying it was more like ‘four million’.
Remarkably, Sawyer hasn’t had any formal singing lessons until recently. His singing journey so far has been fueled by raw talent. His mother would post videos of him singing on Facebook. She observed that music was the medium through which Sawyer communicated best, noting his exceptional ability to pick up on sounds that would usually go unnoticed.
During his initial singing lessons, Sawyer said that his vocal coach commended his voice using a word that he found particularly memorable. “I don’t hear a lot of people say this, but he says my voice is very impeccable,” Sawyer shared with CBS News.
Sawyer was born blind, but his condition wasn’t discovered until he was three months old. His mother noticed that he didn’t squint even when they were outdoors in direct sunlight. Doctors eventually diagnosed Sawyer with septo-optic dysplasia and optic nerve hypoplasia, genetic conditions that affect one in 10,000 children, as stated by the Cleveland Clinic.
Given Sawyer’s condition, his parents, Brianna and Patrick, hope that their oldest child among six, will be able to live an independent life. Despite being competent in Braille and using a cane, Sawyer does have some developmental delays and his future remains uncertain.
Nevertheless, Sawyer harbors big dreams for his future. He aspires to perform on “America’s Got Talent”, despite his nervousness about Simon Cowell’s potential comments, his mother mentioned. Regardless of what the future might hold, one thing is for sure: singing will always be a part of Sawyer’s life.
When asked by his mother how he thinks people feel when they hear him sing, Sawyer confidently replied, “Joyful,” a sentiment with which she wholeheartedly agreed.
