Dedications
Many of the legal guardians of these children are single parents. The average cost of taking care of an abused child is $1 million dollars over the course of their life. Fifty percent of Americans do not have health insurance. If you would like to donate money to help any of these children profiled below with their medical bills, 100% of all of your donations will go directly to the child you choose. Email us at: email@ChildrenWithoutAVoiceUSA.org.
This Dedication Page is in honor of those children who have survived abuse and are living a life filled with many physical and mental challenges. They are children who are shunned by many, forgotten about, but are courageous and loving children filled with life and beauty.
Katie Carmichael
Hello, my name is Katie and I am 10 years old, these are my own words.
When I was a baby and every time I cried my parents would shake me, just enough to make me stop crying. Shaking me really scared me so I would stop crying really fast but because I was shaken, I have learning disabilities. I have a lot of trouble with Math, Reading Comprehension and I have Central Auditory Processing Disorder (C.A.P.D.).
C.A.P.D. is a brain disorder that makes it hard for me to understand and follow directions. My ears hear but my brain misinterprets what my ears are hearing. When I was little, I kept asking my Mom for a “Flipping Flooty” doll. My mom looked everywhere for the doll and couldn’t find it so she took me to Toys R Us and asked me to show her what I wanted. I went straight to “Sleeping Beauty” and showed her. Although my ears were hearing “Sleeping Beauty,” my brain was hearing “Flipping Flooty.” This happens a lot due to the injury my brain suffered when I was shaken.
My mom told me that when I came to live with her, I was a very sad little girl. She said I didn’t smile or giggle but, boy, have I changed! I am the ultimate drama queen, I love talking, singing and dancing and I am a giggle machine. It is amazing what a lot of love can do for you.
On June 17, 2003 a wonderful thing happened to me, I was adopted! My brother, sister and I had been living with my family since I was 15 months old but because courts are so slow and even though, my birth dad was in prison for hurting us and refused to give up his parental rights, it took a long time for my parents to adopt us. I remember that day so well. We got up early, dressed in our matching outfits and went to the courthouse. The judge asked me if I loved my mom and dad, what a silly question, she then asked me if I wanted them to adopt me, another silly question, I just kept jumping up and down saying “yes, yes, yes.”
I think it is very important that I tell others that it is never okay to hurt a child and to never shake a baby. Children are special and should be loved and taken care of and if you can’t do this, then let them be adopted and grow up happy and healthy. Children should never be afraid and when I grow up I want to help children who need someone to love and protect them. My mom says that it is up to us to stop child abuse.
Macie Jean McCarty
Macie was born on November 13th, 1998. She was born healthy and happy. She developed at an above average rate, and on June 8th, 1999 at only 6 1/2 months old, her world changed forever. Macie was shaken to unconsciousness and then dropped on her head on a concrete floor by her licensed daycare provider. She was rushed to the hospital where she started having seizures and CAT scans showed bleeding and swelling of her brain and a skull fracture. She also had massive retinal bleeds behind both eyes. Macie was in the hospital for close to a month, and returned a few weeks later to have the blood removed from behind her eyes. Before being shaken she was able to sit up, roll over, hold a cup...and after she was shaken she could no longer do any of those things. She could not even hold her own head up and had to relearn everything, right down to how to swallow.
Macie is now 10 and is in a special education class for half of her school day. She is in 4th grade but academically, emotionally and socially is only at 2nd grade level. She has Cerebral palsy and wears an AFO brace to keep her muscles stretched. She receives Botox injections in her right leg every 4-6 months and she wears bifocals. She has had 7 surgeries since being shaken, mostly on her eyes, and has had to have her heel cord surgically lengthened, which she will need again in the coming years. She was also left with kidney issues due to her Cerebral Palsy and has had to have the valves between her bladder and kidneys surgically fixed. Macie receives Physical and Occupational Therapy both in school and at home twice a week. She suffers from severe behavioral issues which are thankfully now controlled by medications, but due to those medications she has become very overweight.
She is a very happy child despite all of this and she lives life to the fullest everyday! She is my miracle child!! Macie's daycare provider was charged with Malicious Punishment of a Child causing great bodily harm. After 10 months in court she was sentenced to 48 months in prison of which she only served 32 months, she was released on parole on Nov. 19th 2002 and is now free to live her life as she chooses, while Macie will never have a normal life and will have to be taken care of for the rest of her life.
Aiden
Aiden was born on August 8, 2004, 14 weeks early. He weighed 1 pound 9 ounces. He spent the first 4 months of his life in the NICU. He was a fighter from the time he was born. He survived against all odds and besides some problems with his lungs, 5 months later, came home a happy, healthy baby on December 11, 2004. He was still on oxygen and an apnea monitor but he was developing normally and his overall health was good.
Aiden started going to a babysitter on January 24, 2005 while his dad and I were working. She was our next door neighbor. I interviewed her twice as well as observed interacting with Aiden several times before she started watching him. It all seemed perfect. Everything seemed to be going well. Everyday she was asked if everything was ok. She always replied that everything was perfect always commenting on how good of a baby he was.
On February 16 2005 when Aiden was picked up from the sitter something was very wrong. He was 6 months old and weighed about 9 lbs. His Apnea monitor was alarming constantly and he was whining and lethargic. He was rushed by ambulance to the hospital and after many tests, was found that he was suffering from shaken baby syndrome. He had hemorrhaging on his brain and behind his eyes. He was put on a ventilator and air lifted to a special children's hospital. He was having seizures and It took days to get the medications right and to get them under control.
A VP shunt was inserted to relieve the pressure on his brain. The doctors said that his condition was so bad that he wasn't going to make it. Every day his CT scan worsened. He also had a couple of strokes from all the pressure on his brain. This left the entire left side of his brain damaged as well as both frontal lobes. Once again Aiden proved he was a fighter and after a week he stabilized. The doctors said they couldn't believe it, but they thought that he might live. They said he would be completely paralyzed on his right side, he would be tube fed and there would be no way he would ever walk and that he would most likely be a vegetable. After looking at his brain scan his pediatrician completely agreed.
Aiden has proved all the doctors wrong. At age 4, he eats regular food and has started using his right side. He understands what you tell him but can only say a few words. He has poor motor skills and suffers from Cerebral Palsy. He gets frustrated because he knows what he wants but is unable to do it himself or communicate his needs. His physical therapist is teaching him to sit on his own. He rolls and commando crawls to get where he wants to go. He can't walk. He has really high tone in his legs and doesn't know how to use them.
Despite everything that Aiden has been through he is the happiest little boy. He loves to hang out with other kids and wants so much to do the same things they do. He loves playing in the sandbox and with bubbles, balloons, play-doh, listening to music and being pushed in his stroller. You can see on his face and by his squeals of excitement what makes him happy. Aiden will never live a normal life and will always need us for his care.
If you would like to submit a child for this page, please e-mail us.
