McBurg First Baptist Church is hosting a special guest and special singing for Friends & Family Day on Sunday, April 19. The guest speaker is Tennessee native HK Derryberry.

The singing by One Voice starts at 10 a.m. with Derryberry speaking at 11 a.m. A meal with follow the service.

The following about HK Derryberry’s life can be found at www.hkderryberry.com: HK Derryberry’s life has been considered a miracle. He was born July 8, 1990, in Nashville, Tennessee, three months premature due to an automobile accident that took his mother’s life. At two pounds, he spent the next 96 days fighting for survival in Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit.

Doctors offered little hope for survival but Derryberry proved them wrong.

Because of the accident and his premature birth, he was born blind, with cerebral palsy and countless other medical problems. Eventually this proved too much for his father, who survived the automobile crash but was unable to cope with life. When Derryberryturned five, he left his disabled son in the care of his mother and disappeared for more than 10 years. Derryberry was raised by his grandmother and displayed an extraordinary will to overcome his disabilities and at age 3 enrolled at the Tennessee School for the Blind, becoming one of the youngest students in the school’s history. His right arm, paralyzed from a stroke suffered soon after birth, did not stop him from learning to read and write Braille.

Derryberry’s life was changed forever in 1999 when he unexpectedly met Jim Bradford, a local businessman in Brentwood, Tennessee, who was married with two adult daughters. Derryberry and Bradford soon became inseparable and eventually Bradford’s family welcomed HK into their lives like an adopted son. His personal mentoring and constant involvement quickly exposed Derryberry to a world he had never experienced.

Since age 10, Derryberry had displayed signs of a remarkable ability to recall dates and other facts surrounding events in his life. In 2012, the mystery of his memory was unlocked by medical researchers at Vanderbilt Medical Center’s Memory Clinic. They discovered that HK is one of only five or six people in the world with a medical diagnosis of hyperthymesia, otherwise known as highly superior autobiographical memory. He has the ability to remember every event including time and place that’s occurred to him since he was 4 years old. Vanderbilt researchers are optimistic that studies on Derryberry’s brain may one day lead to a breakthrough for people suffering memory loss.

Derryberry successfully completed every high school curriculum requirement established by the State of Tennessee and in May 2013, at the age of 21, graduated from the Tennessee School for the Blind with a high school diploma, one of the first members of his immediate family to accomplish this goal.

Derryberry “sees” every day as a new opportunity to touch someone’s life. He never allows his physical disabilities to become a permanent handicap or excuse. He is an accomplished equestrian, snow skier, boat captain, public speaker and with some assistance, he has even piloted an airplane.

Today, Derryberry and Bradford continue to inspire and entertain audiences as professional motivational speakers. They have made more than 175 appearances and shared their inspiring story with more than 150,000 people since 2014. Whether appearing before corporations, churches, students, civic clubs or sports teams, their amazing true story and Derryberry’s triumph over insurmountable odds is an emotional rollercoaster for all audiences. Derryberry’s life is a constant reminder to all audiences that everyone can accomplish anything in life if they always keep a positive attitude, define their personal goals, have fun, work hard, and never give up. He frequently tells his listeners “the only disability any of us have in life is a negative attitude.”

McBurg First Baptist Church is located at 353 McBurg Dellrose Road in Dellrose.