We’re David and Lois McBeath. We live in Point Pleasant, WV – a small town along the Ohio River on the western side of the state. We have 2 sons. Austin is 15. He’s a sophomore at Pt. Pleasant High School. Darrell is almost 12. He’s in the 6th grade at Roosevelt Elementary.
We actually began our adoption journey more than 10 years ago. I saw an ad in the newspaper about Chinese babies. We called about it, but it just wasn’t even feasible at that time in our life. All these years, it was always there, stuck somewhere in the back of our minds. I don't know why exactly – it just was. The thought never completely went away.
We also talked off and on about having another child. Our house was only 3 bedrooms, and we know the boys could have been in a room together, but we didn't want to do that if we didn't have to. In the spring of 2006, for some reason (I don't recall exactly what) - it came up again. We started thinking and talking - why not? So we started checking into it more. We did a lot of research online. The more we found out, the more we felt a calling, a desire and even a need to do this.
We started the adoption and added onto the house all at the same time. It took about 6 months to get the paperwork together. Then about another month after we sent it to China for them to translate it and 'log us in' (11/6/06). That's when we started to officially wait.
We finally got "THE CALL" on 7/13/08. It was a Sunday afternoon! After 2 ½ years, we are finally going to get our baby!
Leila Ann McBeath, formally known as Shun Xi Yi, was born on Oct 29, 2007. She had a cleft lip and cleft palate. The lip has been repaired, but not the palate. (We'll have to do that when we get her home.) She's in the Children's Welfare Institute of Shunde District of Foshan City, which is located in the Guangdong Province, in the southern part of China.
Shunde, the hometown of flowers, is one of four cities under the jurisdiction of Foshan City. Covering an area of 806 sq meters and with a population of 1.05 million, Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was set up as a county in the 3rd year (1452 AD) of the Jintai reign of the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644), and conferred with the administrative status of a city in 1992 by the State Council.
Foshan City is also where the actor Bruce Lee was from.
May 19 - David wrecked his motorcycle on Jericho Road on the way to work.
Leila and I were getting ready to leave (running a few minutes late), when I got a call.
It was his phone, and yet when I answered - it was a lady's voice I heard. She told me what had happened, but that he was conscious and had the wherewithal to be able to unlock his phone for her.
I told her I would be there in a few minutes. On the way, I passed a teacher from school that I had been working with. Since I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to find, she took Leila to school with her.
I went around all the stopped traffic, whipped into a driveway and ran the rest of the way. I got there moments before the ambulance. He was laying in the middle of the road. Someone (a teacher at the Intermediate school I found out later) had covered him with a blanket. Yes, he was conscious, but not really 'with it'.
There's really no way to describe the feeling of seeing someone you love in the middle of the road with tons of people around him.
The squad transported him to the hospital, and the attending policeman arranged for his bike to be towed.
PVH did an assessment and sent him onto Cabell.
He had: 5-6 broken ribs, a punctured lung that was leaking air, a broken scapula, a shattered collarbone, a slight concussion, a broken toe, a messed up / stowed thumb, and a cut on one hand that took 6 stitches.
His helmet was cracked and his bike was totaled.
As bad as it was, it could have been so much worse.
There was a nurse in front of him that stopped.
And another nurse that came up behind him.
They stopped traffic both ways, helped, called the squad, the police, and me. And stayed with him.
The responding officer went above and beyond - taking care of the bike and even coming to the hospital to bring me the info on it.
One of the benefits of living in a small town - the number of people that called, prayed, checked on us and helped in so many ways. (Word does travel fast.)
Mom came to the hospital as soon as she heard - before they had even called for the transport.
Darres and Juanita immediately drove up all the way from TN.
Don beat me to the hospital in Huntington.
Austin made phone calls.
Austin, Darrell and Haley came to the hospital & kept me company.
Darrell and Haley got me dinner, and Austin and Casey got Leila's.
Darlene, Austin, Casey, Mandy
and Ronnie got Leila where she needed to be.
Joel and Laura came to the hospital and Petey and Ben took care of the weekend guests we were supposed to have.
Mandy and Ronnie finished the cooking I was supposed to do for the Blessing of the Bikes that was ironically scheduled for the next day.
We would never have made it without all their help, and I thank God for them all.
I also thank God that our 'Blessing of the Bikes' came a day early.
We
knew he was lucky, but we didn't know just how lucky until we went for a
follow up appointment the next week. The doctor sat down and explained
that if the piece of collarbone had gone an inch in any of 3 other
ways, instead of into the lung that it did - he would have died almost
instantly.
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