Disabled boy from Kazakhstan adopted by American man 13 years ago runs cross country
Born with double hip dysplasia, he had numerous operations before the age of 3. The cast was enlarged as he grew. He never crawled or walked.
A world away, in Granby, Jim Fergione was having a mid-life crisis. Instead of getting a Corvette, he likes to joke, he decided to adopt some children.
Thirteen years later, on Wednesday, Jim watched as Tima, now a junior at Granby High, warmed up with his cross country teammates before a race. He would ultimately not compete Wednesday because of shin splint pain, but he hoped to be ready to race next week.
Despite a noticeable limp in his stride, Tima, 17, enjoys running cross country, competing in the javelin and pole vault in track, and snowboarding in the winter. His real name is Timur but he likes to go by Tima.
"He's a terrific kid," Granby boys cross country coach Dennis Lobo said. "Never complains. He encourages some of the younger guys, kids who are out for the team for the first time. He's a great team player."
When he told his father Jim he wanted to try cross country as a freshman, Jim said he "hyperventilated for a week." Tima had undergone surgery on his hip the previous winter at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center, followed by an extensive rehabilitation.
"I talked to his doctor and he said, 'Hey let him try it,' " Jim said. "So I did. I held my breath and as soon as he started going, he's never stopped."
The serendipitous meeting between father and adopted son began in 2002, when Jim Fergione was four years away from mandatory retirement as an air traffic controller at Bradley International Airport. He was only 52. A divorced father of two, his youngest child was a junior in high school.
"What I am going to do?" he remembered thinking. "I'll do what I like to do - raise kids."
He did some research and found that Kazakhstan would allow him to adopt more than one child. After 11 months of paperwork, classes and interviews, off he went to the country in October of 2003.
Meanwhile, a social worker working with Jim had given Tima a picture of his potential adoptive father. The boy kept it under his pillow. Four of his friends had been adopted and he was lonely. When Jim walked into the orphanage, Tima knew him. He limped across the room, grabbed Jim's hand and hugged him.
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