When a beautiful baby girl was taken into hospital with multiple health issues at only three months old, her future was uncertain. Giselle was born premature, weighing less than 2 pounds and suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome. She was eight months old when Liz Smith, the director of nursing at Franciscan Children’s Hospital in Brighton, Massachusetts, laid eyes on her. That meeting would change her life forever.
- “Who’s this beautiful angel?” Liz thought when she saw Giselle for the first time. Giselle was in the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital when Liz Smith just so happened to see her on her way to work. Giselle had feeing tubes in and needed ‘round the clock care. However, Liz knew she wanted to foster the little girl back to health.
- Liz Smith lost her own mom when she was only 19. Her mom was a pediatric nurse as well, which made Liz want to follow in her footsteps. She was extremely caring and maternal, but she never had children of her own. She loved being the “world’s greatest aunt” to her 13 nieces and nephews, but it just wasn’t the same.
- When Giselle was 9 months old, Liz Smith brought her home. While the state still wanted to reunite the baby girl with her birth parents, Smith hoped that things would develop in a way that would allow her to raise Giselle forever. That’s exactly what happened. It was eventually determined that her birth parents couldn’t look after her, and while this saddened Liz, she was up to the task.
- Liz sympathized with Giselle’s birth parents but knew she had to look after Giselle. “The day I got the call that their parental rights were terminated was very sad. My gain was another’s loss,” she told CBS News. “It’s a feeling difficult to describe when you are experiencing this life-changing moment that someone else is as well, in the opposite way. The bottom line is: It’s devastating for another family.”
- Giselle was officially adopted by Liz in October 2018. While she had a feeding tube until she was two years old, she’s now a happy, healthy 7-year-old girl and Liz couldn’t be happier. What a heartwarming story!
