Jory

Boy, born July 2006
PRC
Spina Bifida (postoperative meningocele), postoperative right club foot, postoperative hernia (and one leg shorter than the other)

Listed: July 8, 2013

Jory was found abandoned beside the road at the age of 3 months. He has had corrective surgery to treat tethered spinal cord syndrome, meningocele and congenital cleft spine as well as right cross/club foot. He has normal intelligence. He likes to listen to music and sing. He likes playing with trucks, cars, and balls. His right leg is slightly shorter, but does not seem to impact him. He can walk, run, jump, and go up and down stairs well. He is currently in kindergarten and is doing well. He is patiently waiting for his family to find him.

UPDATE June 2016:  Jory is developing very well in all areas. He is able to express his feelings through words and art forms, especially drawing. He is very talented in drawing, and it is all self-taught! His drawings are full of details and stories, and his choice of colors and lines are amazing! Like most other boys of his age, superheroes are often the theme of his drawings. He loves his group home and his friends. He is caring, and able to stand up for himself when necessary. Academically, he excels at school. He knows a lot of Chinese characters and is able to read books with a little assistance. He knows how to use a dictionary, and he says he wants to make friends with his dictionary. He is very active and full of energy, even though he has to stay in bed because of a broken leg. He is eager to be able to walk and jump again. He is very humorous, and he enjoys making others laugh. He loves singing so much that he would sing along all the way on the school bus, which is a 45 minute ride! He also likes legos. He is fascinated with how things are made and how they work.

Jory has been watching his foster siblings and his friends getting adopted one after another, and he often wonders what would happen to him and if anyone would “pick” him. He says if he gets adopted, he would like to have mom and dad who are kind to him, who would bring him Legos, just like the other parents who adopted his foster brothers. It is hard for him, or any other waiting child, to truly understand that unconditional love means you don’t have to make an effort to be loved, you don’t need to earn your adoption and forever family. It is our hope that he can have a family of his own who will love him, cherish him, enjoy him, and show him what true love means.”

In talking to them, it sounds like Jory would greatly benefit from a comprehensive Spina Bifida team to look at all his problems and take an integrated approach. He needs good and consistent PT as well as custom braces, which are things not available to him currently. While Jory is able to walk despite having one significantly shorter leg, it is not safe for him to do so again until he is adopted and has these services/devices. His shorter leg has decreased bone density, so he has broken the leg once, hip once, and dislocated the hip once by walking. These injuries required three major orthopedic surgeries, and he has been on bedrest much of the last three years. The only benefit to this is that he has had private tutoring and is actually ahead of his peers academically!

Jory desperately needs a family to adopt him and help him get the medical care he needs so that he can walk again like he wishes to!

*** I am eligible for an Older Child Grant! Grant funding is dependent on a completed application and available funds.
For more information, visit: Other Angels Older Child Grant ***