West Jeff Rehab Unit Employee is Adopting a Haitian Orphan

Meet Donaldson. He’s an 18-month-old little boy who will soon call the Crescent City his home.

Leslie Pennington, a physical therapy assistant at West Jefferson Medical Center fell in love with Donaldson’s big eyes and amazing smile while on a mission trip to Haiti last March.

Leslie nursed him through a stomach virus, helped feed him, and comforted him while he had to be moved to another location because the ceiling of his Port-de-Paix orphanage was falling apart.

Fast forward nearly a year later, the January 12th earthquake devastates Haiti, but fortunately, Donaldson isn’t hurt. He’s one of 900 orphans who was already scheduled to be adopted before the earthquake hit. Now, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti is working to fast-track hundreds of adoptions, including Donaldson’s.

Leslie says, “I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I could get him as early as this weekend or within two weeks.”