Couple meet adopted child’s medical hardships with relentless support

Note: The following article is provided by Apelah, a non-profit provider of specialized foster care that has an office in Hernando.

By Andy Bell

The decision meant a deep dive into medical training, then the insecurity in handling the baby’s vital feeding tube and breathing apparatus.

It also meant uncertainty and commitment.

But the rewards gained from carrying Ryley O’Bryan home from the hospital in 2021 made for an easy choice. Charles and Bea McDaniel’s charitable lifeline, they knew, was in exchange for a lifetime of joy.

Last year the Horn Lake couple went from foster care providers to full parents, officially adopting the child in June 2023.

“He’s our joy and he’s joined with us at our hip, literally,” Bea said.

The experienced foster care couple, with six boys of their own, had discussed fostering another child, but were insistent it be – refreshingly – a girl.

They got a call from Apelah about Ryley. It took one greeting with her at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, though, and they knew what their decision was gender withstanding.

“One look and that was it, we knew,” she said.

Bea recalled the anxiety she and Charles felt when they first took Ryley home. Suddenly they were solely responsible for the child’s breathing device and feeding tube’s regular maintenance.

The pressure was heightened, she said, because Ryley couldn’t voice displeasure – only say it through tears.

Doctors successfully closed the openings in his throat and stomach last year. Now Ryley is eating and breathing normally – and compensating for three years of an inability to talk.

And talk he does, his mother insisted, “non-stop.” She added that he also has a fast-moving motor, “very smart” and is eager to touch and hug.

Bea said the passion to be foster parents stems from her watching her own mother nurse relatives back to health in her childhood home; and, regarding her husband, Charles was one of 16 siblings.

“People tell us what a remarkable thing we’ve done, but I don’t feel special,” she said.

In meeting the challenges of their youngest son, she directs credit to the support the McDaniels received from Apelah’s staff and many others.

“We just had a really good support team: from the nurses, therapists, family and friends. They all stepped up with love.”

To learn more about becoming a foster parent, contact Apelah by clicking here.