“He has gone through so much in his life to be seven years old and to have that joy—you know that comes from God, and when he smiles, the joy in his eyes, you look at him, and it just makes you want to smile, it makes you encouraged to continue,” said adoptive mom Colleen Sullivan.
At four months, Elijah experienced a traumatic brain injury and now has multiple severe medical conditions, including cortical vision impairment, developmental delay, and Cerebral Palsy. Sullivan, a Florence native, started fostering Elijah at age 1. She adopted him at age 3, but before that, she was his “foster aunt” who said she prayed repeatedly to decide if adopting the little boy was the right decision.
“I’m a single mom, and when Elijah came into my life, I never thought I would adopt him,” Sullivan said. “I thought I’d just be a foster mom, and here we are, adopted, and God has worked miracles in his life and has shown me that Elijah and I are meant to be together.”
Sullivan’s sister was the first to foster Elijah when she took him home from the hospital at around six months old. Sullivan said he spent six weeks in the ICU at the age of four months after suffering from shaken baby syndrome and abuse from his previous living situation.
After he was brought home from the hospital, Elijah would only sleep for 45 minutes every two days. Sulivan said she would go and sit with him so her sister and brother-in-law could sleep.
During those long nights, she read, sang scripture, and prayed over him.
“One day, I was sitting there with him in my arms, and I said, ‘Lord, if I’m supposed to be anything more to him, please show me,’” Sullivan said. “God showed me that night. Elijah looked at me, and we locked eyes; he reached up and squeezed my two fingers tight, and I said ‘Okay, Lord.’ So, then I kept praying and praying and praying.”
Sullivan said she asked God to show her another sign that she was supposed to be Elijah’s forever mom. One day, she said they were sitting in a waiting room at an appointment, and Elijah was making fussy noises and then stopped and looked at her and said, “Mama.” She said that was the only time he has ever called her that.
Sullivan adopted Elijah in May 2020 with the expectation that assistive technology would be required.
Though Elijah is now 7, Sullivan said developmentally, he is closer to a 1-and-a-half-year-old. Even so, she said he has defied the odds of what doctors said he could do.
He is in the first grade in a multidisciplinary classroom at school. He can sit up, use a spoon to feed himself, drink out of a cup, learn a few words, and use a gait trainer to learn how to walk.
“He’s got big brown eyes and a beautiful smile that will light up your whole world when you see him,” Sullivan said. “Everybody that meets him says he’s an amazing little boy, and he’s got such laughter and a smile or joy about him that just shines through.”
For his mobility, Elijah relies on a wheelchair. Sullivan and Elijah’s caregivers are responsible for ensuring his safe transportation. She is in need of a van and a lift, but the $35,000 price tag to add the wheelchair lift is higher than she can currently afford.
She is working with the Traumatic Trust Fund to get $15,000 covered, though it’s not a guarantee she will get that money. For the remaining $20,000, Elijah’s caregivers set up a GoFundMe, which has raised roughly $1,400 so far to help get the wheelchair lift.
Sullivan said the wheelchair ramp and tie-downs would help immensely in transporting Elijah to his doctor and therapy appointments and his favorite activities like the zoo and the Creation Museum.
It’s also important that she is not carrying Elijah because Sullivan said she has a torn rotator cuff from lifting his wheelchair. In addition, Sullivan said she doesn’t want his caretakers hurting themselves as Elijah gets heavier and will require 24/7 care for the rest of his life.
Sullivan said she is also getting older and has had other recent medical diagnoses, which also limits her ability to lift Elijah herself.
“We’re just trying to make things better so that I can continue to be his mom and so that he can continue to get the care and live as normal a life as possible,” she said.
Every time she has needed something, Sullivan said God has worked miracles. Most recently, Elijah outgrew his wheelchair, and she filled out a waiver and had his physical therapist write a letter to get him one.
“He said, ‘Colleen, I don’t think you’ll get it by Christmas. It might be like a late Christmas present,’” she said. “No, we didn’t even have to wait three months, like a month and a half later, the guys knocking on my door saying we’re here with the wheelchair.”
Sullivan said she believes God was working it out because he knew Elijah needed a new wheelchair, and she is keeping her faith that he will help provide the wheelchair lift, too.
