To a parent who is close to their child, the idea of leaving that child is unfathomable and heartbreaking. Unfortunately, it happens all the time. We told you about the time a mother abandoned her daughter just two hours after giving birth, leaving the child in a phone booth; we also told you about the time a mother struggled with such debilitating postpartum depression, she left her husband and newborn child.
Thankfully, in both of those cases the child was rescued and cared for. But a 2-year-old child in Nigeria, who was abandoned under horrifying circumstances, spent 8 months wandering the streets naked before a he was rescued.
Daily Mail
Last year a photograph of the child– now named Hope– and his rescuer, a Danish woman named Anja Ringgren Loven, went viral. The photo showed Loven kneeling beside Hope, helping him drink water. Hope was horribly malnourished, but the most horrifying part was the caption: Loven explained that Hope had been abandoned because his family thought he was a witch. They’d left him in the street for dead.
Facebook
Loven took Hope to hospital where he had to have worms remove and daily blood transfusions.
Daily Mail
After the photo of Hope and Loven went viral, Loven and her husband received nearly $1 million in donations from generous people around the world. Loven– who is the founder of African Children’s Aid Education and Development Foundation— used the money to run a children’s shelter and open a doctor clinic. There she was able to care for Hope.
Daily Mail
Daily Mail
1 year after posting the horrifying photo of Hope, Loven posted a new photo. It’s going viral once again, but this time for an uplifting reason:
On the 30 of January 2016 I went on a rescue mission… A rescue mission that went viral, and today it’s exactly 1 year ago the world came to know a young little boy called Hope. This week, Hope will start school.
Facebook
Hope’s transformation is absolutely astounding.
It just goes to show, no matter how dark the world may seem, there are still people out there fighting to keep ‘hope’ alive.
Share this beautiful before and after today!
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