Katy Hansley said she did not know if she would ever find her daughter, but Monday afternoon,Gracie arrived at Port Columbus International Airport, eager to meet her new family.
A single mother trying to adopt a young girl from Haiti has lived through a stressful few weeks,after the girl's adoption files were lost in the rubble of two earthquakes, 10TV's Lindsey Seavertreported.
The Hansley family waited with banners and balloons, hopes and dreams.
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"We are just so thrilled for Katy, because we know she has been wanting this for so long," saidHansley's cousin Kristi Holmes.
The process began two years ago, Hansley said.
Hansley was expected to wait even longer, but in a twist, the earthquake that struck Haitiearlier this month has helped bring her daughter home, Seavert reported.
Nephatalie Jean Pierre, 3, had lived in an orphanage her entire life, and when it collapsedafter the earthquake, one of her caretakers died, Seavert reported.
Hansley has renamed her Gracie, Seavert reported.
"They were running out of food, and ran out of water," Hansley said. "They told us they may notrelease our children to us, we got word they may be taking them to a refugee compound, then someonecame out and told me my baby was very sick."
Hansley traveled to Orlando, Fla. after orphans had been flown into America from Haiti. Afterlooking at several area hospitals, she finally spotted Gracie in a holding room. Hansley andGracie then flew home with to Columbus.
"By the time I got to her she was very traumatized, screaming and screaming for over an hour,"Hansley said.
After arriving in Columbus, her new home, Gracie did not want to let go of her new family,Seavert reported.
"I want her to experience everything for the first time; she has never seen a balloon, ordrinking fountain, or the zoo or the library," Hansley said. "She has also never had a mommy."
Gracie was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital International Adoption Clinic for a checkupafter arriving in Columbus.
The U.S. State Department has evacuated 363 Haitian orphans, and there are currently another 200children are on their way to America, Seavert reported.
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