Danielle...Learning to laugh.

They found her three years ago.


In a roach infested home, in a diaper that was overflowing... She couldn't speak, she couldn't feed herself. She had been left alone for most of her life.

She was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Covered in human and animal feces.

"Thousands of roach bites."
"The worst case of child neglect I've ever seen"
"She functioned like a baby."

Folks, Danielle... She was seven when they found her. Read her story.


The Mother, Michelle Crockett,got two years of house arrest in exchange for giving up her parental rights. Her response to the state taking Danielle away makes me... I don't know. LESS than sympathetic. She says if she didn't have bad luck she'd have no luck at all.

EVERYONE has bad luck. Hell. Bloody frickin' HELL. Welcome to the real world honey.

Danielle has since been adopted by a wonderful family and is now eating with a fork, responding to her name, and has "learned to laugh".

I'm ashamed to admit that this is the first I've heard of Danielle. (Thanks Stacy for the link.) Reading it has simultaneously horrified and captivated me, and given me hope for her.

God Bless ya, Baby.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh My God. Thank God the poor child is in a better place now.

Stacey said...

They admitted in the story that they had been able to keep her story out of the news..

those parents are guardian angels.. They have given her wings to help her fly..

Laura said...

It is a blessing that Dani has come so far and has a wonderful, loving family to care for her now. I feel sadness, anger, and disgust for her mother and brothers' inexcusable treatment of such a fragile little angel.

Thank you for sharing this, Epi.

J.R.Shirley said...

I have a friend who says you can look at any inexplicable piece of art, look serious, and opine that the piece is about "man's inhumanity to man".

And it's all around us.

But there are some bright spots. There are the conspicuous Good People who make up for the innumerable douche bags, jackasses, and monsters.

Thanks for the story.

John