This is Dima Kalekin from Ukraine.
He doesn’t remember his biological parents.
At birth, Dima was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, or “water on the brain.” And when his parents saw him for the first time, they made a heartless choice.
They left the hospital without him and never looked back.
Dima was forced to begin life in a orphanage for disabled children in Krematorsk in eastern Ukraine, writes the Ukrainian newspaper Fakty i Kommentarii.
Still in Kharkov Tomorrow we should get Zebadiah and head to Kiev for the final leg of our journey
Posted by Ernest Chaves on Monday, August 31, 2015
Four years later, Dima still couldn’t do simple things like eat with utensils or walk. The orphanage staff doubted that he’d develop normally in the future. But they were surprised he had survived for so long and could even say a few words.
But it wouldn’t be the last time that Dima would surprise the world.
When war broke out in eastern Ukraine in early 2014, Dima suddenly faced a new danger: the orphanage was in the middle of a disputed area.
Waiting at Keiv airport
Posted by Ernest Chaves on Monday, July 20, 2015
So along with all of the other kids at the orphanage, Dima was forced to evacuate and seek safety elsewhere.
For a full week, the children and staff were forced to go from place to place without any water, food, or medicine.
Finally, a group of separatists noticed that some of the children were close to death, so they brought the children to the Ukrainian authorities.
American doctors have examined Zebediah’s brain and are convinced that it hadn’t suffered much damage from the disease. They say that chances are good that he’ll develop normally.
What an inspiring fighter!
Zebediah has a long way to go and will undergo several operations, but he’s already shown the whole world his invincible strength and willingness to live!
A look at him today, in 2022, sure gives us reasons to smile! What a handsome little boy he has grown up to be! It’s so hard to believe that’s the same boy Ernest and Ruth adopted!
