Back in January 2015, we first met Ezra, 8 months old and abandoned on the streets on Blantyre with just the clothes on his back and his medical notes.
We knew he had a hernia but on closer medical testing, we found he had a hole in his heart, from then on we worked with Chain of Hope Charity to find surgery for Ezra, and got all the necessary approvals. Finally these were in place and we launched our #BackEzra fundraising campaign. With your generous contributions, we raised £2,000 to fly him and his carer, Juliana, to Germany for heart surgery.
In December 2015, Ezra and Juliana made the trip to Europe but sadly further tests showed that due to the complexity of his condition, heart surgery would not prolong his life. Your kindness gave Ezra the best chance possible and for that we are extremely grateful.
Ezra’s journey with us has only just begun. He has spent the past 3 years in our Infant Home learning and developing and was always under the watchful eye of our fantastic team, we are pleased to share that he has now moved on to Harrogate House. This is our nursery home with it’s own House Parents and staff. It is designed to give children like Ezra, with no family to return to, somewhere familiar to grow up, call home and start their education. Although it is situated next door to the infant home it is run separately. The transition from the Infant Home down the few steps to Harrogate House marks a big milestone in our children’s life. Whilst here, the children start their early education with our qualified nursery teacher and their own little personalities have space to grow.
So Ezra is only a few meters away from where he was but it is huge step for him and really shows how far he has come. This new chapter in his life will see him learning more and growing up like any other 3 year old. He is already becoming more independent, making friends and growing in confidence everyday.
As a baby he was completely attached to Juliana and would cry as soon as she went out of sight, this was hard for staff and we had to be very patient with Ezra to allow him to build relationships with others in his own time. The fact that he now takes the daily Harrogate House walk with his friends is such a big achievement for him!
Whilst his health and heart condition is unpredictable, his move up to Harrogate House shows that he has moved past the baby stage and is ready to learn new things and lead a normal life. It is because of your support that he has been able to do this and we appreciate all your help, comments and well wishes for Ezra. He is a lovely little boy that after a tough start to his life is really making the most of the opportunities he has.
Here at Open Arms, we are very proud of Ezra and how far he has come and hope you are too.
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