Texas university student adopts infant he found in the trash in Haiti

Jimmy Amisial, 27, said he ‘took a leap of faith’ when he decided to start the process to adopt baby Emilio back in 2018

A Texas State University student is one step closer to officially adopting a baby he rescued from the trash.

Twenty-seven-year-old Jimmy Amisial said he “took a leap of faith” when he decided to start the process to adopt baby Emilio back in 2018. The pairs’ paths crossed in their native Haiti, where Mr Amisial had been visiting family for Christmas, Fox2 reported.

Mr Amisial said he found Emilio, now four, in a dumpster, abandoned and covered in fire ants as he was coming back from an orphanage he was volunteering at. Locals were scared to approach the baby because they feared Emilio was cursed, Mr Amisial told Fox8.

“They thought that the baby was cursed or had some evil spirit. There were so blinded by the intensity of [a] magical ritual which is really prevalent in Haiti. He had no clothes and was in excruciating pain,” Mr Amisial wrote in the description of a GoFundMe he set up to cover adoption costs.

After rescuing Emilio, the communications major at Texas State University was asked to be his legal guardian. Since then, Mr Amisial has worked tirelessly to provide for his son, who is being cared for by his mother in Haiti.

Mr Amisial is now closer to finalising the adoption process thanks to more than a thousand donors who have raised $72,000 to help bring Emilio to the United States.

“Even though I didn’t know how I was going to take care of him I took a leap of faith by saying yes,” Mr Amisial told Fox2.

“Whenever he’s talking to me, he’s saying ‘oh daddy I need this, I need that. I need a tablet, buy me a bike’; he has someone he can go to and ask for stuff, and I’m very proud of that.”

Mr Amisial said he was very confused in the beginning but powered through in order to become the best father for Emilio.

“My spirit was agitated and kept me awake for days thinking about what to do. I have learned that in life ‘if you keep thinking on the things you cannot do it will feed your fear and starve your faith,’” Mr Amisial wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Mr Amisial often volunteers at orphanages in his home country of Haiti (Jimmy Amisial/Facebook )

He had to take time off from school in order to work, but said he is looking forward to completing his education. While the process has not been easy, having Emilio in his life has been a blessing, Mr Amisial said.

“One thing I know is that, you can never go wrong when you choose love. It was those divine moments and interventions to show love, clarity and show the world that we can do better. I’m glad that I get the opportunity to transform his life from being abandoned in the TRASH to a wonderful TREASURE,” he also wrote.

Mr Amisial’s story has touched thousands across the country and the world, who have shown an outpouring of support for the soon-to-be official legal guardian of Emilio. Mr Amisial told Fox2 that he plans to use the money raised to finalise the adoption and continue his education.