teamMarius

MARIUS IS COMING!! Marius, and Ionut and Teo will arrive at LAX on August 4th at 3:40 p.m. Team Marius families are going to be there as well as a group of Romanians from the community there in LA where word is spreading about his arrival along with lots of willingness to help. We think that is just terrific that they will have fellow Romanians to help them with their transition and share his culture, traditions, and language. These friends will be a great support in helping Marius adjust to the many changes! The process to get to this point has been long but the miracles myriad! We had one set back where the tickets promised to us were not delivered but we were able to secure the best seats we could and are thrilled with the timing and capacity to move on and solve problems as a team.

Marius will be whisked away by two very excited families and hopefully enjoy a much needed vacation. We will be headed to SeaWorld for a visit, to the beach for some sunshine and in general anywhere else that will help Marius recuperate from all the travel. The doctor at Shriners has said we needed to take him to play and rest and enjoy life before he would do any surgeries. We are thrilled with his wisdom. Marius will spend time with both sponsor families and then toward the end of August, we hope to have him started on his first surgery.

We have had some real miracles along the way despite the few setbacks. The greatest one for us was the issuance by the US government of a five year visa for Marius and his brother and a ten year visa for Teo, our interpreter and team member from Romania!. We were shocked at the length and generosity of the visas. This will make things so much easier for Marius because he won't have to travel back and forth every year and a half and then return for treatments. He will just be able to stay and get the surgeries he so desperately needs with minimal interruption. We owe Teo for much of this miracle as she fought hard during the visa interview to explain the situation to help everyone understand and make the best decisions for the boys. We are excited her visa is so open ended and hope she will be able to come to visit us often.

An extra thanks also to the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein of
California, who wrote letters of support to the embassy in Romania and who were so helpful in getting these visas.

We can hardly believe the time has come to welcome Marius to America. We couldn't have done this alone. We want to thank all of you who have donated and helped in all that has become the Marius Miracle. We hope one day to have a reception or two where we can introduce Marius to all of you who have been so instrumental in helping us achieve this great feat. We will keep everyone posted as to his recovery and attach pictures next time of his arrival and his journey during his first few weeks here in America! Thanks to all.

Warmly,

Kristin Free
Team Marius