This story is a sobering reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the long road society has to travel toward kindness and acceptance. It is about a little boy who endured a devastating attack by two Rottweilers and survived, only to face cruel judgment from others due to his disfigured appearance.
Ryder Wells was just 21 months old when the unthinkable happened. During Thanksgiving of 2015, Ryder and his mother, Brittany, were visiting family friends. Brittany recounted the horrific incident:
“We were eating breakfast, and Ryder was moving back and forth between his toys and coming back for bacon. Then, he disappeared. I looked out of the window, and he was face down in the garden.”
She continued, “He had pajamas on, but they’d been completely ripped off except for a sleeve. When we picked him up and rolled him over, his face was just gone.
“The dogs had been around him before, and they’d been fine, so I don’t know what happened. The doctors said they would do what they could, but we weren’t expecting him to make it. They told us it’s a miracle he’s still here because he was so small, and the injuries were so severe. They thought the dogs had bitten so far into his skull that he would be paralyzed.”
Ryder’s injuries were catastrophic: he lost his entire right cheek, more than half of his lip, his teeth were crushed, his right lung was punctured, and his arm was broken. He was airlifted to the hospital, where he underwent over 14 hours of surgery. For Brittany, it was an unimaginable ordeal filled with anxiety and uncertainty.
Despite the severity of his injuries, Ryder’s spirit proved unbreakable. He survived the surgeries but was left with a permanently disfigured face. Over the years, he has undergone more than 50 facial reconstruction surgeries, with more to come in the future.
However, Ryder’s battle is not just physical. He faces the harsh reality of societal judgment. Brittany shared:
“He knows people are talking about him, but he doesn’t say much. He wears glasses and a cap and sometimes hangs his head to hide his face. I try to deal with it in a way that doesn’t affect him too much. I tell him every day that he’s beautiful, that different is beautiful, and it’s okay to be different.
“But I’m absolutely terrified about when he goes to school. There are always going to be a few kids who aren’t kind. When he started kindergarten, the kids learned about Ryder before they met him so they wouldn’t be as shocked. You always want your kid to be accepted and to fit in. Just because he’s different doesn’t make him any less of a person.”
Despite the challenges, Ryder has found a supportive community. Brittany expressed gratitude for the kindness they’ve encountered:
“He has a great group of friends, and people in town know him now, which boosts his confidence. He’s been amazing in how he’s adapted after everything he’s been through.”
Now five years old, Ryder’s journey is far from over. His family has started a GoFundMe campaign to support his future surgeries and treatments. Ryder’s story is a testament to his incredible resilience and a call for greater kindness and empathy in the world. We wish Ryder a life filled with love, acceptance, and opportunities to thrive despite the challenges he has faced.
BRIDE KICKS HOMELESS MAN OUT OF HER WEDDING UNTIL HE STARTS SINGING A SONG THAT ONLY SHE & HER DAD KNEW.
The ballroom shimmered, a testament to months of meticulous planning. Crystalline chandeliers cast a warm glow on tables laden with floral arrangements, each bloom a perfect testament to the bride’s vision. Jessica, radiant in her designer gown, felt a thrill course through her. This was it. The wedding of the century.
But as the guests began to arrive, a wrinkle appeared in the otherwise flawless tapestry of her day. A security guard approached her, his face a mask of polite concern. “Ma’am, there’s an elderly gentleman at the entrance. He insists on seeing you, but… well, he doesn’t quite meet the dress code. And, if I may be frank, he seems… unkempt.”
Jessica sighed. Of all the days for a complication. “I don’t know any elderly gentlemen,” she said, her voice laced with annoyance. “Please, just have him removed. I don’t want anything to disrupt the reception.”
The security guard nodded and turned to leave. Jessica watched as he approached the entrance, her eyes narrowing as she spotted the man in question. He was old, his clothes worn and patched, his hair a tangled mess. He looked, frankly, like a homeless man. A wave of disgust washed over her. She couldn’t have that at her wedding.
“Please, take him away before my guests smell that stench,” she instructed, her voice clipped.
The old man tried to speak, to explain, but the security guards, ever efficient, quickly escorted him away. Jessica dismissed the incident, focusing once more on the festivities.
Later, as the band took a break and the guests mingled, a hush fell over the room. A lone figure had taken the stage. It was the old man, the one she had dismissed so readily. He held a microphone, his posture surprisingly dignified. Before Jessica could react, he began to sing.
The melody was haunting, melancholic, and achingly familiar. It was a song her father used to sing to her, a song he had written himself. A song only she and he knew. He had sung it to her just weeks before he died, when she was seven years old, a song about a little girl and her dreams.
Jessica froze. The blood drained from her face. The room seemed to fade away, replaced by the memory of her father’s warm smile and the sound of his gentle voice singing that very song. Tears welled in her eyes, blurring her vision.
As the last note faded, the old man lowered the microphone and stepped towards her. He stopped a few feet away, his eyes, surprisingly clear and intelligent, fixed on hers.
“Hello, Jessica,” he said, his voice raspy but kind.
Jessica couldn’t speak. She could only stare at him, her mind reeling.
“I know it’s been a long time,” he continued. “I’m… I’m your grandfather.”
The room gasped. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Jessica’s mind raced, trying to reconcile the image of the disheveled old man with the grandfather she barely remembered. Her father had spoken of him occasionally, a man who had left their family when Jessica was a baby. A man she had thought was dead.
“Your father… he loved this song,” the old man said, his voice thick with emotion. “He sang it to you every night. He told me… he told me to sing it for you on your wedding day.”
Jessica’s tears flowed freely now, a mixture of grief and disbelief. She had never known her grandfather, had never even thought about him. And yet, here he was, on her wedding day, brought to her by a song from her father, a song that unlocked a flood of memories she hadn’t realized she had.
She rushed forward, throwing her arms around him. He was thin, frail, but his embrace was warm and strong. “Grandpa,” she whispered, her voice choked with tears.
The wedding of the century had taken an unexpected turn. It wasn’t just a celebration of her union with her fiancé; it was a reunion, a rediscovery of a lost part of her family. The old man, the one she had dismissed as a vagrant, had brought her a gift more precious than any diamond, a connection to her past, a reminder of the love that had shaped her. And as she stood there, in the arms of her grandfather, surrounded by the whispers of her guests, Jessica knew that this was the most meaningful, most unforgettable moment of her life.
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