Caterina “Cathy” DiGiovanni raised three beautiful children and they were still close. She was a good Italian grandmother, spoiling everyone. She had good friends. She’d even saved a little money for retirement. Life was good. But it didn’t stick. Instead, she’s raising her daughter, Angel, 31, for a second time. Angel suffered a traumatic brain …
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The Horton boys take immense pride in their artwork, showing them off to anyone they meet. Ariel, 11, shrieked in excitement when a reporter recognized his pencil drawing of Abel Tesfaye, better known as the Canadian rapper The Weeknd. He signed the portrait in blue crayon, “Your 1# fan, Ariel.” The elder brother likes sketching …
Continue reading "Young brothers bonded by artistic talent and a grim diagnosis"
Quinn McBride, a sunny and determined soul, has battled leukemia for most of her life. She’s 15 months old. It was her mother who suspected there was something seriously wrong with the baby when supposed mosquito bites would not heal. At first, doctors thought Quinn had a relatively harmless virus known as CMV, but her …
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It began with a juice box. A Capri Sun, to be specific. Four-year-old Calliah Pierre, normally an energetic little girl who loves pink, purple and Doc McStuffins, began complaining of stomach pain in June. She could barely eat or drink, and she had trouble finishing her juice. That raised a red flag for her parents, …
Continue reading "A warrior princess in pink, preschooler battles cancer"
Niva Louissaint, the 18-year-old not-girlie-girl doing lunges in her “Nap Queen” T-shirt, is trying to rebuild her balance now that her left leg is gone and a 10-pound metal and plastic prosthetic has taken its place. She lost her leg more than a year ago, but she’s getting around to the rehab therapy only now …
Continue reading "Cancer-stricken teen: ‘I was born into a family of sick but really strong people’"
The baby kicks his legs in delight at the sight of his father coming home from work. Asmay Desir Lucel, exhausted from a day of working in the Belle Glade sugar cane fields, picks up the 8-month-old boy and cradles him. Asmay’s wife, Wislene Jean-Pierre, limps on the edge of the front porch and struggles …
Continue reading "A farmworker’s heartache: caring for a disabled wife and their infant son"
A children’s song flows from a young girl’s bedroom and fills her family’s Boca Raton town home. “Stand up, turn around, sit down!” goes the song that plays on a YouTube video in which kids act out the lyrics with singer Patty Shukla. Amanda Silva, the 11-year-old girl watching the video from her bed, loves …
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If a kind heart and a friendly disposition could guarantee a comfortable life, we wouldn’t be talking about Bobby Hart. The 25-year-old was born with developmental delays, a result of meningitis and encephalitis and high fevers just after birth. His young mother had arranged a private adoption, but when it fell through, Bobby was alone. …
Continue reading "Disabled animal lover seeks safe, stable home and job"
Chrisma Joseph laughs often. And it’s a miraculous act given what, at 17, she’s already lost: her ability to stay with her family in Haiti. Her native language. Her friends at home. Her leg. The girl who loved to dance as a child now sits with her ever-present walker in her sister’s small, homey Delray …
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