After his parents learned of his illness, they abandoned the poor boy.
When his parents heard that he had hydrocephalus, they dropped him off in a Ukrainian hospital.
Dima was afterward placed in the care of a crippled children’s orphanage in Kramatorsk, Eastern Ukraine.
Dima couldn’t walk or eat by himself when he was four years old. Because of the lack of growth, he was making at the time, the orphanage staff felt he wouldn’t develop correctly.
Despite the fact that they were all hoping he would live longer. For Dima and the orphanage staff, being alive and well at that time was considered a miracle.
Because of the fighting in 2014, members of Dima’s orphanage were forced to flee and seek refuge in a much safer location.
Because of a scarcity of food, water, and medicine, the orphanage members expected Dima to be one of the conflict’s casualties. They even had a priest come in to pray for him before he ‘passed.’
Dima proved, against all obstacles, that he has the strength to the battle. Dima, like the other children at the orphanage, managed to survive.
He eventually met an American family who had adopted children before. Vermont couple Ernest and Ruth Chaves had already adopted seven children.
They fell in love with Dima and completed all of the necessary papers.
Dima’s parents are now the Chaves. Dima is now affectionately known as Zebadiah.
Zebadiah quickly learned to feed on his own and can now walk with the assistance of a walker, thanks to the Chaves’ unwavering love and care.
Surprisingly, he was able to master all of these skills in less than a year.
Zebadiah is not only fluent in English and Ukrainian, but he is also dedicated to pushing himself to enhance his mental and motor skills.