April 28, 2019

Blind, autistic singer speaks of ‘Mission Possible’ at pro-life breakfast

REGIONAL
Story and photos by Carolee McGrath

 

 

GRANBY – To a sold out crowd, 17-year-old Christopher Duffley shared his story of a “Mission Possible” at the Pro-Life of Pioneer Valley’s annual breakfast, Saturday, April 27 at 10 a.m. at the Pioneer Valley Chapter 8 Camping Club in Granby.

Duffley, who is blind and autistic, is a singer-songwriter and began the breakfast by leading the crowd in “The Star Spangled Banner.” Duffley has performed before packed audiences from coast to coast and sang the national anthem at a Red Sox game and at other national sporting events.

Duffley is the youngest of five children and was adopted by his parents, Christine and Stephen Duffley.

“Christopher was born to my brother. My brother is Christopher’s dad and he called us to say they were pregnant which we were happy about. Then all of a sudden we got a call that Christopher was born prematurely 1 pound 12 ounces at 26 weeks,” Christine Duffley told iObserve.

“Unfortunately they were both using drugs and lost custody of Christopher four months later,” she said.

Christine Duffley said her son sang before he could hold a conversation. His father introduced him at a Christian conference in New Hampshire where he sang the popular Christian song “Open the Eyes of My Heart” when he was 10 years old. The video went viral with more than 2 million views. He also sang the praise and worship song at the pro-life breakfast as part of his presentation.

The teenager, who attends a Catholic school in New Hampshire, has become a sought-after speaker and performer booked at churches, schools, disability ministry events and for corporate events. He has released two albums and has his own podcast.

“My second or third main message is to not judge, to not prejudge on the outside. Get on the inside first,” he told iObserve.

“Let’s say he (a person) has autism or Down syndrome or something else. If they can do what they can do, they’re good for who they are. That’s the message I want to spread around the globe,” he said.

More than 200 people attended the breakfast, many of them concerned about the proposed legislation in Massachusetts to expand abortion up until birth. New York state passed a similar measure in January.

“I have worked with people with disabilities for almost 30 years and one thing I can tell you with complete and absolute certainty, is people with disabilities have the highest risk of being made dead, whether through abortion, whether through euthanasia, whether it’s through post-birth abortion that’s coming down the road. When people attach value only to what a person can perform, we know that people with disabilities are on the firing line first,” said James Brunault, a board member of Pro-Life of Pioneer Valley. Brunault said Duffley is changing attitudes about the issue of life.

“He was born premature. He was born addicted to drugs. He was born without sight and diagnosed later with autism. A lot of people might look at someone like that and don’t see a lot of worth. And this guy is dispelling all of those myths,” said Brunault. “He’s a performer. He’s an entertainer. He’s performed all over the country.”

During the breakfast, Pro-Life of Pioneer Valley honored longtime pro-life advocate Monica Butler with the Pro-Lifer of the Year Award. The committee also organized a pro-life essay contest and artwork contest for students in grades four through 12.

“I feel abortion shouldn’t be an actual choice,” said Dannesia Lawrence, who is in grade six at St. John the Baptist School in Ludlow. Lawrence won the artwork contest in the grades six to eight category.

“I feel like children who are unborn, they don’t get to feel the love everyone else gets. That person can be president or a police officer,” she said.

The contest was divided into three categories: grade school; middle school and high school. Nine cash prizes were awarded with each winner receiving tickets to attend the breakfast.

“I believe people always deserve their human rights. I don’t understand why people don’t believe that applies to babies that aren’t born yet. They have their own heartbeat. It’s their life. They’re here too,” said Kara McGuiness, a Holyoke High School sophomore who won first prize in the art category.

Massachusetts State Sen. Don Humason (R-Westfield) was the honorary chair of the breakfast.

A video version of this story will be featured on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel” which airs Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. on WWLP-TV22 NEWS and in the Berkshires Sunday mornings at 5:30 on Albany’s Fox 23, WXXA.