JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jessica and Raja Paulraj met while working as medical missionaries. She's a nurse from Jacksonville. He's a physician from India. And when a sickly baby was abandoned at the Indian hospital where they were working, they stepped in to save the child's life.
Baby Adam was born with a rare disorder that left him with no eyelids, a cleft palette. His feet are fused together. He has no little toes, no little fingers. But what he does have is two people who love him. Teresa Cooksey's daughter, Jessica and Jessica's husband, Raj.
Cooksey said, "At that point, Jessica and Raj just felt, well, here's this baby. He had no advocate for him anywhere on this Earth. No one to speak up for him."
Jessica and Raj adopted Adam. They got him all the care they could in India. But the surgeries he needs to keep him from losing his sight, and repair his facial deformities can't be done there. The newlyweds got an offer from friends in the States to give the baby the operations he needs. They say a team of doctors worked to raise money. But when they arrived in North Carolina last week, they learned it wasn't enough.
Cooksey said, "Everything has gone perfectly according to plan except for this part."
Now, they need $100,000. And they need it in a week, before Baby Adam loses his sight. It seems like an unreachable goal. But Cooksey says her daughter and her husband feel it's their calling to give the little boy a chance at a normal, healthy life.
"They're acting on faith and they just felt like they couldn't in good conscience leave this child with absolutely no one to take care of him," she said.
The family says they didn't come to the States expecting free medical care. They needed the money secured before the baby was able to get his visa. They didn't know they didn't have enough, until they got back to the U.S.
So far, they've been able to raise about $15,000. And they say this holiday, they're thankful for the generosity of their doctors, family and friends.
Baby Adam's journey is being documented online. Follow his story, and find out how you can donate, by going to
http://www.babyadamsjourney.com/.
