For two years, a magical metamorphosis happened to the boy. Once, people were afraid to even look at him a second time. And now he is happy.
In June 2014, Princilla Morse lazily scrolled through her Facebook feed. And suddenly I came across a photograph of a child from whom I could not take my eyes off. The baby looked like a tiny skeleton: at seven years old, Ryan was the size of a newborn – a very thin newborn. He weighed only 3,5 kilograms. The bones covered in leather were scary to look at. Tired eyes looked from a tiny, old-manly wrinkled face – the baby did not expect anything good from life. The page on which the photo was published belonged to a Bulgarian orphanage for children. To adopt a baby, Priscilla would have to fly halfway across the world. And she flew. But at first she had to overcome bureaucratic obstacles long and tediously – it took more than a year to complete the paperwork.
The family of Mrs. Morse and her husband by that time already had three children: their two biological sons, 13-year-old Dylan and 7-year-old Jack, and Jack’s age, Mackenzie. The couple once adopted a girl with special needs – Mackenzie has Down syndrome and congenital heart disease. In general, the adoption of a child, who is clearly not all right with his health, did not frighten the couple.
And now Priscilla saw Ryan live for the first time. The boy looked even worse than in the photo: extremely emaciated, covered with hair – this is how his body tried to keep warm in the struggle for life. People were afraid to even look at him. And the woman became scared too. But it was not the appearance of the unfortunate child that shocked her. She was afraid that she would not have time to complete the necessary paperwork and Ryan would die.
“This was my first thought when I saw him: ‘He is going to die,’” said Priscilla … – Then I realized that ‘skin and bones’ is not a figure of speech at all. “
But the boy stubbornly clung to life. In November 2015, Priscilla stepped off a plane at an American airport with Ryan in her arms. Directly from there, the woman went to the hospital, where specialists immediately took care of the boy.
“I have never seen doctors cry when looking at a child. They really did care. But the doctors did not believe that Ryan would survive, “- according to Priscilla, the doctors openly told her that the boy would die.
But the gloomy forecasts did not come true – after two weeks the situation ceased to be critical. And a month later, Ryan was discharged from the hospital. Every month the child’s condition improved. It was no longer a skeleton: Ryan was gaining weight, his skin and lips were no longer bluish, there was no trace of fur on his body. A year later, he weighed three times more, slowly learns to walk and – a miracle! – started talking.
“This is a real miracle, I cannot name his transformation in another way. I didn’t believe that he would survive the flight, but now he is a cheerful, active, happy child, ”says Priscilla.
The boy even went to a kindergarten for children with special needs. Unfortunately, health problems have not gone away. Ryan has cerebral palsy, microcephaly, scoliosis, clubfoot and dwarfism – which is why he is so small. Doctors say it can take years to fully recover. But parents are ready to be patient and wait as long as necessary. Priscilla is confident that the boy will be fine: she herself was once adopted. Her adoptive parents had a son with special needs. The boy died when he was nine. But Priscilla will never forget the attitude of her adoptive father and mother to her son with developmental problems.
“I was very young when he died. But I remember how my parents loved him no matter what. I want to give this child the same love. Each of us deserves to have a family, ”says Priscilla.