The letter from foster parents of Nikita, a former orphan from Kalinovka:
Over a year ago my wife and I committed to adopt a special needs child from the Zaporozhzhye region in Ukraine. We knew the child had mental disabilities and were told he also had a heart condition, however we did not know the severity of the heart condition. A few weeks before we traveled to Ukraine to complete the adoption Happy Child sent our adopted son, Nikita, to a cardiologist to discover more details about his heart condition. The doctor informed Happy Child that Nikita had a very large hole in his heart as well as pulmonary hypertension. We were told it was very unlikely for Nikita to survive a heart surgery to correct his heart defect because the pulmonary hypertension would cause him to die. However if the heart defect is left unfixed then Nikita would die from that within a few years.
My wife and I were already committed to this child and decided to continue with the adoption, praying and believing God for a miracle. First, the cardiologist from Zaporozhzhye told us Nikita would need oxygen on the flight back to America because of his heart problems. We were unable to provide him with the oxygen. However after visiting a cardiologist in Kiev, Nikita was cleared to fly and made it all the way to America with no problems.
Within a few weeks in America Nikita met with an American cardiologist to begin diagnostic studies. It was determined that Nikita’s pulmonary hypertension was not as advanced as it should be based on his age and heart defect. The doctor was amazed that Nikita was still fairly healthy and it was determined Nikita could probably survive heart surgery.
After a few months Nikita was able to have corrective surgery to fix his heart defect. Everything went perfectly. Nikita now has a new heart that is working as if it never had any problems before. Miraculously, Nikita’s hypertension has completely healed. In fact the cardiologist has said Nikita is like a child that has never had pulmonary hypertension before.
We are greatly appreciative for the help and support that Happy Child has offered for Nikita and so many needy children that have been abandoned and neglected. We are very happy with Nikita and are proud he is our son and he has a family now. However it breaks our heart to see so many lonely orphans left behind. Every child deserves a family. We are truly grateful for the work that Happy Child does to improve the lives of so many orphans throughout Eastern Ukraine.
Sincerely,
Richard and Monica Sotolongo
Springfield, FL
September 28, 2014
