Man Vows to Adopt Boy He Found as Baby ‘Covered in Ants’ in Trash Can
While on a trip to Haiti, Jimmy Amisial heard a baby screaming. When he found the source of the sound, he was shocked to discover the baby in a trash can, abandoned, according to The Mirror.
Amisial was baffled to find no one else trying to help the child, despite the infant being "covered in ants and clearly distressed."
"People were crowding around this bin and I heard them arguing about what to do with this tiny baby," he told the outlet. "Everyone was just staring at him — not a single soul wanted to help. He was crying and had no clothes on and I could see the pain in his eyes — I had to do something."
Amisial, who was 22 at the time, immediately grabbed the baby and took him home to his mom. They cleaned him up and immediately sought out medical attention.
"When I woke up that day, I was totally unaware that my life was about to change forever," Amisial recalled.
Local authorities tried to find the infant's parents but they were never located, so a judge asked if Amisial would be interested in becoming the child's legal guardian.
The child, who Amisial named Emilio Angel Jeremiah, spent the next few years in Haiti living with Amisial's mom while he finished college at Texas State University.
Amisial, now 27, has spent the last few years split between Haiti and Texas. Now, he's finally formally applied to adopt the child.
"When I found him, he was 4 months old — now he's nearly 5," Amisial shared. "It's been an incredible journey and watching him grow up has been so rewarding — I'm very proud of him. I had to do what I had to do when no one else wanted to do it, and I'm so grateful for the past four and a half years."
Amisial revealed he "truly" feels like a father today.
"I'm excited to put pen to paper and make Emilio my son — I just need to raise the money first," he added.
Amisial is currently working on raising the $30,000 needed to complete little Emilio's adoption.