Bernie and Diane had a long dream of having a large and happy family.
They had raised five boys but when their children were all grown up, they determine to adopt a daughter.
After they decided to adopt a child, they went to an adoption event.
While looking at the bulletin board, a black-and-white photo captured Diane’s attention. It was a photo of a girl who has dark eyes. At the moment she saw the girl’s eyes, she knew that the girl was meant to be her daughter.
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However, as Bernie and Diane wanted more information about the girl in the photo, the caseworkers kept saying that they should reconsider. They said she had a problem.
Although the caseworker didn’t stop trying to convince the couple, Bernie and Diane decided to know more about the girl via their adoption attorney.
But they were not prepared to know the truth.
They heard about the life the little girl had lived and they couldn’t believe the story because it was too awful to be true.
The girl in the photo, Danielle, had been abused and neglected by her parents for seven years when she was found by Detective Mark Holste.
He says, “I’ve been in law enforcement for 27 years now, and this is by far, bar none, the worst case of child neglect I’ve ever come across in my career.”
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Danielle was locked inside of her house for her whole life; she couldn’t respond to anyone; she couldn’t talk; she couldn’t eat solid food. And when she was found, she weighed 46 pounds.
As her biological mother lost parental rights, she was moved to an orphanage. This was the time before Bernie and Diane saw her picture on the bulletin board at the adoption event.
Even after they heard the story of Danielle, Bernie and Diane were solid about their decision of adopting Danielle. They are holding her hand since then and taking a long journey together for the better condition of Danielle.
I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for Danielle to endure the time she was neglected. Please SHARE if you wish Danielle a happier life with her new family, loving parents and her five brothers.
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