In October of 2017, The Romero family received a prenatal diagnosis that their son would likely have Down syndrome. Those words changed their lives forever.
“He was born in May 2018 and he changed our whole family forever. He is the light of our lives and is always doing funny things.” Said his mom, Trisha. Cruz started receiving physical therapy and occupational therapy with Easterseals at 9 months old. He learned to crawl and walk; now he is running. Some of his current goals include jumping and walking up & downstairs. He is also working on eating foods with a fork, putting on a coat and zipping it and taking off his shoes.
In 2020 the Romero’s were looking into special needs adoption when they saw a photo of a beautiful, dark-haired girl in an orphanage on the other side of the world. They spent 6 weeks in Ukraine during the adoption process of their sweet daughter Livia. Like their older son Cruz, Livia has a diagnosis of Down syndrome. At that time she had low muscle tone, limited physical movement abilities and could only drink pureed foods and milk out of a bottle. When they returned to Central Illinois they were able to get Livia in to the same therapy team at Easterseals that was helping their son, Cruz. She has come so far in the last 18 months. She is now walking around and playing with her three older brothers. She is also learning to use utensils and loves all kinds of foods.
Trisha Romero recently shared this message with the students at Limestone Community High School:
“Thank you for all your support of Easterseals. Please continue to treat people with differences the same. I never thought I would get so much from having children with special needs. Learning to slow down, enjoy life and all the little things.”
Hear Trisha’s full message here to the Limestone students below
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