If you ask 8-year-old Noah Aldrich to talk about his little brother Lucas, he answers with five simple words: “I love him. He’s perfect.”
Lucas, 6, was diagnosed with Lissencephaly – a rare disorder that affects brain development – shortly after he was born. Lucas cannot walk, talk or feed himself. But he loves to smile, especially when Noah is around.
Their bond is so tight, when Noah recently started training for a kids’ mini-triathlon near their hometown of Eagle, Idaho, he decided that he did not want to race alone.
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So when he hits the water to swim, he pulls a raft – with Lucas inside.
When he bikes, he pulls a stroller – with Lucas inside.
And when he runs, he pushes a stroller – with Lucas inside. And the younger brother is clearly glad to be there.
“You can see [Lucas’] smile says the whole story,” says Alissa Aldrich, the boys’ mother.
“Yeah, he lets you know he’s having a blast,” adds Brian, their father. “Just playing like brothers should.”
The boys ran their second triathlon together this month in Emmett, Idaho, and the duo is getting a lot of attention. A video of their first run together went viral, but that’s not what’s important to them.
“I’m just doing something with Lucas,” Noah says. “I didn’t really want to be famous.”
He just wants to make sure every single moment with his brother counts.
The family hopes all of the positive attention will help them raise money so they can build something called “Lucas House,” a place of respite for kids with life-threatening conditions.
To learn more about the family’s mission to help children with life-threatening conditions, visit www.lucashouse.org.