Award-Winning Artist Experiences God Through Daughter’s Health Battles
By Movieguide® Contributor
Christian artist Jordan St. Cyr is opening up about how his 5-year-old daughter, Emery’s, health journey has strengthened his faith and inspired new music.
When Emery was born in 2018, St. Cyr noticed what looked like a birthmark on his daughter’s face.
“[The doctors] said it looked like some bruising,” he told PEOPLE in an interview. “And I said, ‘not a chance.’”
“They had her in for an MRI within the first 24 hours,” he recalled. “Instinctively we knew that [the birthmark] could end up being superficial, but more often than not, it’s revealing to what is going on underneath.”
Emery was diagnosed with Sturge-Weber Syndrome, “a rare, neurological disorder present at birth and characterized by a port-wine stain birthmark on the forehead and upper eyelid on one side of the face…[it] is also accompanied by abnormal blood vessels on the brain’s surface and the loss of tissue (atrophy) with deposits of calcium (calcification) in the cerebral cortex of the brain on the same side as the birthmark.”
“It looked devastating and looked debilitating and looked like a quality of life that no parent would desire for their child,” St. Cyr said. “The left side of her brain was suffering from atrophy, so it was shrinking. Her blood vessels on the left side of her face were also three times the size that they should have been, and it was those blood vessels that were stealing blood from her brain.”
Jordan and his wife Heather felt “helpless” for their child. The only thing they knew to do was turn to the Lord.
“Watching your little girl go through this, you think she’s dying,” he admitted. “The first year was impossible. I felt helpless. I felt desperate. And in those moments, I just felt like a failure. I could see no step forward.”
Now, five years later, Emery is doing “so good.”
“Her humor is a huge marker to show that she is doing really well,” St. Cyr said. “Her intellect is there. She’s able to learn things like any other kid right now. She graduated from preschool last month. Other than that birthmark and some weakness on the right side of her body, you wouldn’t know.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but [Emery’s diagnosis] was the biggest gift I could have ever received,” he added. “I thought so much of life was in my control. But it wasn’t. That is what this little girl revealed to me.”
St. Cyr’s newest album, “My Foundation” is out now, inspired, in part, by how his family has experienced God throughout Emery’s health struggles.
“I can’t believe the day is finally here!!! My sophomore album ‘My Foundation’ is out now!” he posted. “These songs have been so special to me and my family and I hope they serve you and yours well as you journey from season to season.”
“Songs have been my saving grace,” he told PEOPLE. “If you live life long enough, nobody is exempt from hitting the rough patches. And so, these songs are life rafts for me. They’re life rafts for my wife and hopefully, my kids so as they get older, they will see that myself as a father did everything in every facet of my life to serve them well.”
“While he continues to create music and tour, Jordan St. Cyr is really just getting started,” the “Christian Music Guys” podcast said of St. Cyr’s new album. “We have to build our life on something, if we don’t we will fall. Jordan St. Cyr’s sophomore album, ‘My Foundation,’ resonates with those building their foundation on solid rock. He speaks through personal experiences that touch the hearts of all who have weathered storms.”
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