Couple Adopts Ukrainian Boy With Cerebral Palsy Amid War

A couple from San Antonio, Texas, adopted a Ukrainian boy with cerebral palsy. They flew to Ukraine to meet the boy and did everything to bring him back to the United States. With the raging war, the boy getting sick, flights getting canceled, and American citizens urged to evacuate; they almost did not make it out of Ukraine in time.

Weeks after, the parents Kelci and Theron Jagge and their newly adopted son, Ruslan, are now back in the United States but with a miracle story to share, Epoch Times wrote.

The adoption journey

The couple, who has a biological daughter and son aged 11 and three, said they had never talked about adopting before, and not even when they saw a picture of Ruslan. But, that prompted them to research more about the needs of orphans in Ukraine, and they started donating.

Eventually, the couple agreed to adopt Ruslan when their finances improved. In 2021, they started their adoption process.

Before their first trip, the couple knew that things were getting worse in Ukraine. But since they considered Ruslan as their son already, they wanted to get him out of the warzone the soonest.

By December, the couple traveled to Kramatorsk, Ukraine, to meet Ruslan for the very first time after seeing a picture of him for over a year.

Kelci, the mom, said that she cried when they finally met Ruslan. At the time, Ruslan was heavily sedated and soon fell into pneumonia.

On February 3, the family attended court. The judge later approved a waiver of the standard 30-day wait due to Ruslan's condition. By February 8, the paperwork was completed, and the couple could bring Ruslan out of the orphanage. Despite the looming airstrike, the family headed to Kyiv to ask help from Exodus, another non-profit, to secure Ruslan's visa for travel to the US.

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Getting the visa and the flight just in time

The couple said the driver was racing down the road to get to the embassy in time. At 5 PM, as people were heading home, one lady and a couple of guards stayed behind. By 5:20 PM, the couple was called to get Ruslan's visa. The lady who processed the visa said it was a miracle that they got the visa on time. Little did the couple know that the embassy would be evacuated the next day.

As they were ready to board the plane, the passport control said that Kelci and Theron's court waiver was invalid, and they could only leave the country after 30 days. The couple went back to their apartment as per the embassy's advice, while a facilitation team hired a lawyer for them. They were told that things would be 50 percent in their favor.

On February 16, kind passengers allowed the couple to jump in the queue for their flight home as Ruslan's condition was worsening, and he was running out of medication then.

When they arrived in the U.S., the couple rushed Ruslan to the hospital to be treated for his pneumonia. The doctors found parasites on the boy, who was also malnourished. 

While in the U.S., the couple learned that the head of their Ukrainian facilitation team, Serge Zevlever, died in Ukraine. Zevlever hired the lawyer for the family and accompanied them to the airport to make sure they would make it to their flight on time. With Zevlever's death, Kelci hopes that Ruslan grows safe in the U.S., knowing he is loved and cared for.

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