Just after noon on Wednesday, our
twitter feed was hit with a story about Brett, and included the message #GetBrettTo1D.  But it wasn't just sent to us.  It was sent to Cosmo, People, USA Today, ABC TV, CNN, other boy bands, other TV stations, and One Direction as well as their fan club. Shortly there after, more and more posts came in, also sending the message out to the Ellen Show and Good Morning America.  And the story is unbelievable.

Brett Wheeler, now a sophomore at Marion, was born at just 23 weeks, and was not expected to make it.  But Brett was clearly a fighter.  However, there were some obstacles that would be a part of his life.  For one, Brett is blind.    He also did not have the ability to eat with his mouth, and spent two days a week at eating therapy.  He spent 11 and a half years on a feeding tube.  But that would change not long after he took a liking to the music of One Direction in 2012.  His therapist decided to search what the band's favorite foods were, on a hope that might trigger something.   And it did.  Brett decided he wanted to try some of those foods, and his world would forever change, as that day he ate on his own for the first time.  Months later, Brett tried all sorts of different foods, and soon the feeding tube was able to come out. Of course a One Direction song had to be playing in the background as that procedure was done.

Since the band served as an inspiration for this major life change, teachers, doctors, therapists, and his parents figured why not try it for other things.  And so it began.  Using One Direction facts as bait, Brett eagerly learned Braille.  Reciting song lyrics has helped him overcome his stutter.  He's also developed confidence to be more social, with the preferred focus of conversation being One Direction of course.

And no surprise, he has a dream to meet the band to personally thank him for miraculously changing his life. This inspired the viral campaign among his peers to spread the word everywhere of #GetBrettTo1D.  If you're reading this, we encourage you to share the hashtag to everyone you can think of and keep the campaign going, hoping one day we can grant Brett this wish.


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