A 16-year-old boy who was abandoned at a hospital at the age of 11 by his adoptive parents has been adopted again, this time by a devoted single dad.
At the time of his abandonment, Tony had been in the foster system since the age of two and had finally been adopted at age four by a couple in Oklahoma. However, after six years of calling his adoptive parents mom and dad, they cruelly left him at a local hospital and had allegedly done the same thing to another adopted child several years before, per Love What Matters.
After learning of Tony's situation, foster care worker Jessica Ward called Peter Mutabazi - who had been a foster parent for several years - to ask if he could take Tony for the weekend.
However, when he learned that Tony was abandoned, Mutabazi felt compelled to take him in permanently, telling Good Morning America: "By that time, I was crying. I thought, 'Who would do that?' Once I knew the parents' rights were signed off and he had nowhere to go, I [knew] I had to take him."
"He asked if his parents were coming to get him and they said no. [We have] no idea why," Mutabazi sadly revealed.
Tony's story must have felt familiar to his own, as Mutabazi told the story of how he ran away from an abusive household at the age of 10. He eventually found a father figure to guide him and who even encouraged him to attend school. "They became my sponsor, my family. I grew up the poor of the poorest people on the planet. I grew up where no one told me to dream, that there was no future for me."
Then Mutabazi - who grew up in Uganda - eventually came to the United States and became a citizen. Since then, he has fostered over 28 children and counting. Though, when it came to Tony, he felt that he had no choice but to adopt him after hearing about his devastating past.
"I had the room, the resources, so I had no reason to let him go. For what someone did for me I wanted to do something for someone else," he said.
The adoption was eventually finalized when Mutabazi and Tony moved from Oklahoma to Charlotte, North Carolina. The whole process was facilitated by Ward, who originally brought the pair together.
"[Tony] had some issues that he was dealing with from foster care and trauma when he was abandoned, so Peter knew once he took him in, that was it," she said. "Peter's [Mutabazi] story all around is beautiful and amazing. Because of the age Peter was when all of the things happened in his world, I feel like that's been such a connection for him and Tony."
Telling Good Morning America of their loving bond, Mutabazi said: "He's the nicest, smartest kid I've ever had. From day one, he's always called me 'dad.' He truly meant it and he looks up to me. He's proud to show me at school and say, 'Hey, he's my dad.' That's something that I love about him."
