TARRIN

Tarrin came to us from the village of Aniak. She was such a tiny, sweet little girl struggling with a really big issue. Thankfully Tarrin is a fighter and has overcome a lot of problems that go along with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephaly. Her doctors assure us that someday she will be able to walk with assistance! Tarrin hasn’t let it hinder her, and at 3 years of age she is beating the odds, walking unassisted and running all over the place. She loves to explore, is very curious about everything and can’t help but break out dancing when she hears music. She has also discovered ‘outdoors’ and can’t get enough of it. Everything is so new and exciting to her. She is such a joy!

ALEX

Alex is from the Nome / Shishmaref area. He stepped into our lives and hearts at the tender age of 7 months. Working diligently with his Doctors and Specialists, we were able to get his Diabetes Insipidus under control only to go on and tackle many other issues. Due to his partial Corpus Callosum (brain defect), he will always struggle with physical and mental challenges. Now that his double clef lip and palate has been repaired, he is enjoying tasting different foods and learning to use his mouth to form different sounds. He has been standing and taking a few steps with support, and we have the hope that someday he will walk. He recently began ‘Aquatic Therapy’ and loves it! His favorite things in life are playing with his siblings, school and of course Nana & Papa! We enjoy watching him learn and discover new things every day.

TY

Coming to us from Emmonak, Ty was only 5 months old and fighting for every breath he took. Soon after, he was diagnosed with CHARGE Syndrome, and our battles began. Though we weren’t given much hope for Ty, his health has continued to slowly improve. We were told he probably would not walk or talk and that usually children with this syndrome don’t live very long. We will soon be celebrating Ty’s 7th birthday and he is walking better all the time! He if finally enjoying playing on the playground with the other children, sliding, climbing and swinging! He is attending school for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing and is actually becoming tri-lingual! He is attempting to vocalize, uses sign language and also uses a computerized voice system called a Dynavox. We are all attempting to learn sign language so we can communicate with him. Everyone Ty meets comments on what a happy boy he is. If you need a smile to lift your spirits then come meet Ty!

DEVON

Devon is from the Nome area and has lots of family there. Due to inadequate medical facilities in that area, his family had to make the hard choice to keep their beautiful 5 month old boy in Anchorage, where he could get the medical help he needed. As we helped Devon through his daily struggles with eating, breathing and continual seizures he became such a part of our lives that it wasn’t a tough decision when his parents asked if he could remain with us. Devon is now an active 8 year old! He enjoys riding his bike, sledding in the snow and swimming. He’s also loves to build things and is super creative (perhaps our engineer in the making). Though some of his issues remain, he has learned to overcome them and is living life to the fullest!

SAMANTHA

Weighing in at 4.7lbs and diagnosed with severe FAS and Tetralogy of Fallot, Samantha was only given a 20% chance of survival. We picked her up from the hospital at 6 weeks of age with nothing but hearts of hope and open arms of love. We were told to put her on a blanket and make her happy, because she would probably never walk, talk or write her name. Samantha is now 13 yrs old and can ice skate, write in cursive and absolutely loves swimming! In school she excels in music, art and PE. We are all very anxious but excited that she is heading into Middle School this year! She has never met an animal she didn’t like and always loves it when someone brings their dog for a visit. She spends hours outside looking for the moose, rabbits and bugs (yes, bugs) that frequent our yard. Yes, she still has many battles to face but obviously God has something great planned for her life. It’s been a very rewarding adventure watching her reach each milestone along the way.