A Connecticut couple, both teachers, adopted one of their students after witnessing him endure a painful disease that led them to discover he was in the foster care system.
According to Good Morning America, Jenna Riccio, an elementary school teacher, didn’t know her life would change when a new student named Nate transferred to her class in December 2018. She met him while being a reading teacher at Walsh Elementary School and helped him get comfortable in his new environment.
Nate has sickle cell anemia. Riccio told GMA that Nate had a blood infection when he was younger that resulted in the amputation of three of his fingers, a portion of his left arm, portions of his legs and a portion of his ear.
“He was a super sweet boy, really quiet,” Riccio shared in an interview with GMA. “He was really shy. Sometimes he would just cry out of nowhere. I think it was a lot for him — transferring in mid-year, being the only kid in our classroom in a wheelchair. It took a long time for him to warm up and to open up to everyone.”
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder characterized by abnormal hemoglobin, which interrupts the flow of oxygen to the body’s tissue.
And although Riccio was aware of the disease, this was her first time seeing its actual effects on someone’s health, which caused them to grow a special connection.
She told GMA, “I’ve heard of sickle cell before Nate, but I had no idea what it entails until I saw firsthand with Nate and it’s a horrible thing to see. … When he goes into pain crises, they are like 10 out of 10 excruciating pain, and really the only thing you can do is just manage the pain of it.”
Because of his health challenges, he has had occasional hospital visits throughout his life. Nate endured another visit as a student in Riccio’s class. Since the two bonded as he became acclimated to his new class, she contacted the Connecticut State Department of Children and Families for information about his home life. She learned he was in the foster care system and separated from his biological parents, so she wanted to visit him during his stay.
“I asked if I could go visit him in the hospital just thinking, he doesn’t have his mom,” she said. “He doesn’t have his brother with him. … I just was a little sad that he didn’t have people he knew up there visiting him and that’s when I went to go visit him. And that’s when I started thinking, ‘You know what, I can be his foster mom … like I can be there for him.'”
Before Nate’s hospital stay ended, Riccio completed the necessary paperwork and process to become his foster mother.
She said, “We did that all in like 10 days.”
“When Nate was discharged from the hospital, instead of going to his previous foster home, I took him home,” Riccio added.
Not long after, she got engaged to her now husband, Tim Riccio, who was Nate’s art teacher.
Together, they decided to adopt Nate after discovering his parents’ rights were terminated after several years of him being in foster care.
The adoption was finalized in November 2022 on National Adoption Day, and his older brother, Giovhany, who was previously taking care of Nate, was in attendance for the celebration. Riccio credits Giovhany for Nate’s great spirit.
“Before [Nate] came into our lives, he had an amazing brother. His brother is now 22 so there’s an 11-year age difference but when I first met Nate as a first grader, his brother was his main caretaker and I give so much credit to him,” she added. “He was a young man but he did his best to make sure Nate was OK, and I think that has helped [Nate].”
Nate is now 10 years old and enjoying his new family. Riccio hopes people hearing their story will become more knowledgeable about sickle cell anemia since it affects 70,0000 to 100,000 Americans. In addition, she wants to encourage others to learn more about how they can uplift a young person’s life through foster care.
