by Galen Gregory

Created on: June 18, 2007

Of all my personal heroes, I'd have to say that my adopted son Marcus is my greatest inspiration. To help you understand why, I have to tell you his story...

Marcus and his twin brother were born to a single mother. They were only a few weeks premature and were basically healthy, normal infants. When the twins were 10 months old, the mother called CPS, saying she couldn't cope (by this time there was another baby) , so CPS got involved with the family. At the age of 15 months, Marcus had a broken arm, and a month later his twin had a broken leg. The mother claimed they each had fallen. The CPS worker decided that it could have happened that way, even though, at each home visit, the children had bruises and had begun to display disturbed behavior and poor eye contact.

The twins were regularly evaluated by the occupational therapist at the local teaching hospital. With each visit, this OT documented increasing emotional disturbance. At the age of 1, Marcus had been a social baby, interacting appropriately. By the age of 2, he avoided eye contact, banged his head on the floor, hid his face in the corner, rocked himself. His twin showed the same pattern, though not quite as severely. The OT was very concerned, and contacted CPS to express her belief that the children were in danger.

CPS's handling of the case is a travesty, plain and simple. The children were never removed from the home. At one point, when the children had obviously been left alone at home, the CPS worker confronted the mother when she came up the sidewalk alone towards the apartment. The mother threatened to kill the worker. Several weeks later, the social worker came for a visit, but the mother said she was on her way out and the worker would have to come back later. From the doorway, the worker could see two of the children. Did she insist on making the visit? Did she at least ask to see the third child? No, she left. That was the turning point of Marcus' life. While she stood at that door, Marcus was in the bedroom already with a detached retina from being shaken and third degree burns from being placed in hot water. Ten days later, I guess all his crying from the pain of the untreated burns was too much for the mother, and she snapped. Marcus showed up at the ER semi-comatose, with a severe traumatic brain injury from being thrown against a floor or wall.

At that point the boys were removed from the home. Marcus began his rehabilitation. He was paralyzed on his right side and could no longer walk.

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