“They admitted to feeling some sort of ‘reward’ at watching him lay lifeless. None of the abusers had any explanation. We were preparing for him to pass away. But then, something happened. We’ve been by his side, loving him. Finally the day came, termination of rights for parents – we thought it would never happen. This bittersweet day, we also learned just exactly why our son was so fragile.”
‘You are so strong, little man. We love you.’ This 2-month-old had been brutally attacked by his dad.’: Military couple adopts ‘warrior’ shaken baby survivor, ‘He is a true testament that love conquers all’
‘It was at the hands of his babysitter, who was a family friend. Yes, we knew her.’: Mom ‘petrified’ after learning babysitter abused infant son, insists her shaken baby survivor will still ‘have the absolute best life’
“I was at work and received a phone call. ‘Eli is asleep but kicking his feet and won’t wake up!’ I called the ambulance since the sitter had not, and left work immediately. I was petrified by what she told me, but totally confused. He was fine just a few hours before. When I got to the house, he was seizing with his eyes rolled back. The EMT made a comment I’ll never forget. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this. I have no idea what is going on.’”
‘Momma, I ‘dopted now!’ My son was bitten, strangled, and starved. He had 15 broken bones.’: Couple adopt Shaken Baby Syndrome survivor, ‘he was always ours, now we have the papers to say so’
“He was born just like any other baby. Until his biological mother or father had ‘shaken’ him. We were told he may never walk, talk, eat, see, or hear, and would have to be spoon fed for the rest of his life. People often ask why his skin is so dark. We get so many dirty looks. But we don’t care. We’re just so happy to give him a safe and loving home.”
‘I yelled, ‘My baby can’t see me! What’s wrong?!’ They looked at me. ‘You know EXACTLY what happened to your baby. You shook her, threw her against the wall and bashed her head on the floor.’
“She appeared sleepy, so I laid her down in her crib. I figured since she was sleeping, I could wash my hair, but something told me to check on her again. ‘Momma someone tried to kill my baby, momma my baby, who hurt my baby?!’ I fell to the floor in tears, but her father appeared calm.”
‘Caleb fell off the couch. Something is wrong,’ my babysitter’s boyfriend told me. My heart stopped! ‘I’ll be right there!’ She was holding my son who was NOT crying. His eyes were closed.’
“I went back to work after maternity leave. I felt pretty good about the babysitter I found. She had a baby of her own whom she stayed at home with. I met her boyfriend (father of her baby). For two weeks, I went over on every lunch to check on him. Then I got the phone call.”
‘The guy who brought me to the party passed out. I should have left him, but I’m a loyal person. I fell asleep and was awoken by a man’s body on top of mine. I couldn’t move and yelled for help.’
“I remember telling my mom, ‘I would die if something happened to you.’ She always reassured me, ‘I’m not going anywhere Erica.’ I whole-heartedly believed she would live forever. Then she started complaining of severe headaches. Selfishly, I thought, ‘Well if God took my Grannie, he can’t take my mom too.'”
‘Who the heck was Wyatt left alone with?!’ They told me his injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.’
“I was then notified by the police that my ex-husband’s girlfriend did indeed have a criminal history. My immediate thought was, ‘How come people who sexually abuse children have to register, but people who physically abuse children don’t? It made me sick to my stomach. I knew in that moment, I had to make a change in this world.”
‘They called for another baby!’ Henry and his twin brother were born micro preemies. Sadly, his twin passed away. Henry was put into foster care. I stood there staring at the message.’
“We got the call when he 10 months old. At the time, my husband and I were fostering a baby girl suffering from shaken baby syndrome. We had already adopted 3 children, all who have special needs. I waited for my husband to get home and met him at the door.”
‘There is something wrong. She won’t open her eyes and is very weak.’ I drove to the babysitter’s house like a rocket! I collapsed in tears. Everything was chaos after that.’
“At lunchtime, I received a call no mother should ever receive. Who could be capable of hurting our baby? We trusted everyone around her.”
‘I found out months before meeting Jorgie we were unable to have biological children. We were devastated. We just couldn’t understand at the time. Until we met him.’
“Taylor was 10 months old when she was shaken and abused. They called again, but this time it was for a 2-month-old baby girl born addicted. Everyone thought we were crazy for considering another child with so many needs, but if not us, then who?”
