They kept telling Jerry Windle, a single gay man, that he would never be a father. He had little faith in himself that he would ever become a father, yet all of a sudden, his life was transformed.
His story as a parent is like a storybook come to life, and it demonstrates how a merciful heart can triumph in any conflict.
At Bright Side, we firmly believe that parental love has the power to transcend all social stereotypes and prejudices. We’d want for you to learn about the single, kind-hearted man who fostered an Olympic champion after he was left as an orphan.
It all started with a magazine.
Jerry Windle, a gay man who is single, has always longed to have children. He had trouble adopting in the US till one day he happened to read an article in a magazine about the plight of children in Cambodia.
He contacted the Cambodian authorities without any delay, and shortly after that, he learned information that would change his life.
When Jordan’s birth parents passed away, Jerry traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where Jordan had been residing in an orphanage.
The toddler had terrible illnesses, scabies, and malnutrition. Jerry took him home to Florida, nurtured him back to health, and immediately became his father.
The new family immediately encountered several difficulties.
There were several challenges for the new family returning to the US. Prior to learning English, Jordan used sign language to communicate with Jerry because of his numerous health difficulties, exhaustion, and weakness.
Jordan was 2 years old at the time, yet he only weighed 16 pounds. His father was unsure of his prognosis for survival.
Yet he pledged to do everything in his power to ensure that his new son would never again have to endure suffering. Already, there was so much love that it overcame all difficulties.
A fantastic Olympic career accidentally got begun.
At age 7, Jordan began to have Olympic aspirations. At diving camp, Tim O’Brien, the son of a well-known diving coach named Ron O’Brien, noticed him.
Jordan then enrolled in a specialized diving program and began to experience his first achievements.
He also met gay rights advocate and Olympic gold winner Greg Louganis around this time. Even his nickname was “Little Louganis.”
After three Olympic trials, first at the age of 13 and then at the age of 16, Jordan realized a 15-year-old ambition and qualified for the men’s platform competition.
The relationship between a father and son has remained strong over time.
Jordan will participate today at the Olympics for the United States, but in his heart, he will also be representing Cambodia. In order for people to see the Cambodian flag when he dives, he recently had it tattooed on his arm.
In a children’s book they co-wrote in 2011, the father and son honored their story. The story of a crow who was informed by other animals that he couldn’t be a father without a hen is told in the book An Orphan No More: The Real Story of a Boy.
He comes across an egg that nobody wants one day. The duckling that emerges would demonstrate that “where there is love, there is family” despite their dissimilar appearances.
What more instances of a parent’s love that heals do you know about or have in your own family?
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