Courtesy of Eric and LeAnne Stadler
My big strong husband had tears in his eyes as the caseworker began to fill us in on his case. He was starving. The people who brought him into this world chose to not feed him because they had better things to do, like sleep or go to work. You see, he had just spent 10 days at a top-ranking children’s hospital where they had diagnosed him Non-Organic Failure to Thrive. NOFTT meant there was nothing medically wrong with him that would cause him not to gain weight. During that stay, he had packed on a whopping 11 ounces, which proved he was capable of gaining weight, but after he was released from that hospital things for him got worse.
After that extended stay, the hospital set up a visiting nurse to see him every other day and on her first visit, she found him in a bouncy seat asleep. He was filthy, covered in cat and dog hair, and his diaper was soiled. The chart that was supposed to keep record of his feedings was not filled in properly. The nurse asked for a bottle because she was not going to leave until he had been fed. The biological mother went to the fridge, pulled out a cold bottle, and handed it to the nurse for her to feed him. The nurse explained the bottle was too cold for him and asked her to warm it. With an attitude, she replied, ‘If he is hungry he will eat it.’ So, the nurse began to feed him a cold bottle in an effort to give him nourishment, and he ate. She finished her visit, went out to her car, and called the authorities. Little did she know, the baby’s nurse practitioner was calling Children Services the same day.
Courtesy of Eric and LeAnne Stadler
A female detective was the one to answer that call. A mom herself, she knew what she was seeing was a life or death situation and promptly removed him from that house. Detective M saved his life that day! She collected evidence and began a case for neglect. Even though she knew what she saw was definitely a form of abuse, she had no idea what we were all about to uncover.
Courtesy of Eric and LeAnne Stadler
