BOOK: a struggle to adopt the ill child and find miraculous voice-giving surgery.

“I spoke soothing words and touched her pale fingers. The silent weeping stopped.”

Author:  Ann Widick Giganti

Heather wasn’t my child, but her distress tattered my heart. Fourteen months old, the little one lay swaddled in a blanket, forgotten and lost amongst unchanging hospital routines. In a fleeting moment, our eyes met, and her soul captured mine.

Heather had never felt the warmth of the sun, seen a field of wild flowers, or smelled bacon and eggs sizzling in a skillet. She knew the pain of needles and surgery, but not the comfort of a mother’s love, bedtime stories, and good-night kisses. Nor did she know the pleasure of a father’s romping playfulness and gentle teasing.

The Voiceless Child was voiceless, literally. Airway scarring rendered spoken language impossible. Destined for a life in an institution, she was thought to be deaf, blind, and retarded. She was fed through a tube in her tummy and breathed through a hole in her neck. She did not even know how to move her fingers.

Once home, I woke my husband and said we should adopt her. He protested. He thought the idea was absurd. Once he met her, he changed his mind. The book is about how we struggled to adopt little Heather, how we searched for a surgeon to restore her voice. Miraculous airway reconstructive surgery gives Heather the gifts of voice and swimming. Without it, she never could have talked or swam with the dolphins.

Heather not only survives, she thrives. Meeting Heather transformed our lives in ways never envisioned, plunging us into despair and showering us with rainbows.

The story takes place in Florida with its beautiful beaches and reefs. It has a happy ending. The grown-up Voiceless Child travels to the island country of St. Kitts for nursing school, falls in love, and even has a daughter of her own. Little Lilly was also born too early, too small, and is a valiant fighter like her mom.

Enjoy reading about the adventure of Heather’s healing and about the dedicated surgeons who can bestow the miracle of voice. At the time, less than thirty surgeons in the world performed the procedure. Discover how an ordinary couple came to meet little Heather and pondered that perhaps the impossible wasn’t really impossible; and if perhaps the impossible really was impossible, what then?

–Ann Giganti, author and Heather’s adoptive mother