Texas college student to adopt abandoned, ant-covered baby he found in trash can

SAN MARCOS, Texas — A Texas State University student is working toward adopting a baby he found in a trash can while visiting family in Haiti five years ago.

According to CNN, Jimmy Amisial was en route to ring in 2018 at a New Year’s Eve party when he stumbled upon a large crowd surrounding a baby abandoned in the street. He was 22 at the time.

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“I saw there were about 15 to 20 people staring at the baby on the pile of trash,” Amisial told KXAN-TV, recalling that the baby boy was covered in ants and crying for help.

“He had no clothes on. He was crying. I could hear the pain in his voice,” he said, adding, “I couldn’t think of anything but to save him.”

According to the TV station, Amisial took the 3-month-old infant home, where his mother helped him bathe, clothe and feed the child. Police investigators were unable to find the child’s parents, and a judge asked Amisial if he would be willing to act as the boy’s guardian.

“Sometimes you don’t have to know what to do. You just have to be ready to do it,” Amisial told KXAN about his decision to accept the judge’s suggestion.

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According to CNN, the boy is now 5 years old, answers to Emilio Enjole Jeremiah and could soon be Amisial’s adopted son.

“When I woke up that day I was unaware my life was going to change forever,” Amisial told the network.

When the holiday break ended, Amisial returned to Texas State, leaving the child with his mother while he supported the pair financially, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, Amisial began the costly formal adoption process in 2019 with the assistance of Haitian attorney Esther Chery. The following year he left school to work full time to fund the adoption, and he boosted his efforts by launching an online fundraiser on July 27 that by Friday morning had exceeded its $60,000 goal by more than $19,000, according to the network.

Amisial told CNN that he plans to use the excess funds to fund Emilio’s education and support local orphanages in Haiti, noting that a longer-term goal is to launch his own nonprofit to help orphans and needy families in his home country.

Amisial told KXAN that Emilio – who “loves to dance,” “loves music” and “loves to play the guitar” – is living in Haiti with Amisial’s mother, while he prepares to return to Texas State in the spring of 2023.

“(Amisial) hopes by the time he walks across the stage to get his diploma, Emilio will be living with him in America and watching from the crowd,” the TV station reported.

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