When Jimmy Amisial heard a baby screaming during a holiday in Haiti, he looked around to check the tot was okay. He expected to see a parent trying to soothe the little boy, but he quickly realised the noise was coming from a bin and the child had been abandoned.
To his shock, the crowds of people around him seemed reluctant to help, even though the four-month-old baby was covered in ants and clearly distressed. Student Jimmy, who was just 22 at the time, scooped the tot up and took him home to his mother, Elicie Jean, 66, where they cleaned him up and fed him milk, before seeking a doctor.
He said: “People were crowding around this bin and I heard them arguing about what to do with this tiny baby. Everyone was just staring at him - not a single soul wanted to help.
“He was crying and had no clothes on and I could see the pain in his eyes - I had to do something.” Police launched an investigation to try and track down the child’s parents - but unfortunately, they were never found, according to Mirror Online.
Jimmy named the little one Emilio Angel Jeremiah and was asked by a judge if he would become the boy’s legal guardian. Emilio has spent the last few years living in Haiti with Elicie, while Jimmy finishes studying at Texas State University.
Now 27, Jimmy has been splitting his time between America and Gonaives, Haiti, to visit the child and has formally applied to adopt Emilio as he wants to be his dad. Jimmy, who is studying communication and electronic media, said: “When I found him, he was four months old - now he’s nearly five.
“It’s been an incredible journey and watching him grow up has been so rewarding - I’m very proud of him. I had to do what I had to do when no one else wanted to do it, and I’m so grateful for the past four and a half years.
“I truly do feel like a father, and I’m excited to put pen to paper and make Emilio my son - I just need to raise the money first. I’m glad I got the opportunity to transform his life from being abandoned in the trash to being a wonderful treasure.”
Jimmy, who spent his teenage years volunteering at an orphanage near his home in Haiti had returned in 2017 to visit the kids and bring them gifts. He recalls the moment he came across baby Emilio and his disbelief at finding a baby in a bin.
A group of people stood around the child, but no one knew how he ended up there or who his birth parents were. “When I woke up that day, I was totally unaware that my life was about to change forever,” Jimmy said.
Jimmy says his mum was shocked when he arrived home with the child but was immediately willing to do everything she could to ease his pain and suffering. The poor boy was covered in ant bites from being in the rubbish pile, so they took him for a check-up at the doctor.
They then contacted the police, who tried and failed to find the parents, so there was a hearing to decide what was to be done with the baby. “When I was asked to raise him, I stayed awake for days tossing and turning, trying to make a decision,” Jimmy admits.
“I was already behind on my university fees and my family has always struggled to make ends meet. But I didn’t have a dad growing up, and this poor child was facing a lifetime of instability and uncertainty.
“Something inside was telling me that this had happened for a reason - so I took a leap of faith. Sometimes you don’ have to know what to do, you just have to be ready, to do it.”
After thinking long and hard about the judge’s request, Jimmy agreed to raise him with the help of his mother. Four and a half years on, Emilio and Jimmy have developed a deep bond and the 27-year-old says he “loves him as if he were [his] own”.
But the journey to officially become the child’s father won’t be an easy one. Jimmy started the formal process of legally adopting Emilio back in 2020 but needs to raise $30,000 (£25,028) to complete the adoption.
Until he has the money, he will not be given a date for completion. And to make things more complicated, Jimmy has had to take a considerable amount of time off from his studies in order to help provide for his family.
But he’s gearing up to start his third year in September. Emilio started school this year and is said to be a bright spark in his year group.
The tot’s favourite subject is music and currently, he wants to be a musician when he’s older. Jimmy added: “It’s been fun seeing him grow - he’s a joy to be around.
“Mum loves him, the kids in the orphanage love him, and I love him as if he were my own. He really is a special little boy.”
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