Cori Salchert is a hero. Recently featured on the Today Show, Cori was honored for being the ultimate supermom, taking in foster children who are sick with terminal diseases, report TODAY. The former nurse and her husband, Mark, believe that every child needs a family, especially those fighting disease. Rather than sit back and hope for change for these children, they decided to be the change.
The Salchert family from Wisconsin takes in these children whose parents are unable or unwilling to care for them. It’s heartbreaking to know that families give up their children when they learn of terminal diagnosis and need family the most. The Salcherts already have 8 biological children of their own, but were thrilled to add more to their team. In 2013, they adopted a little girl named Emmalyn who was missing half her brain. While the doctors and the Salcherts knew she didn’t have long, they still took her home and gave her a family for her 50 remaining days.
In 2014, they brought home Charlie, a terminal ill baby with hypoxic ischemic brain encephalopathy, HIE (learn more about HIE here). He suffers from decreased brain functionality due to lack of oxygen to his brain. Everyday he requires a lot of attention because he needs a ventilator and feeding tube, among other life and medical maintenance. Yet, the couple was happy to bring the baby in.
Charlie was only supposed to live to see two years of life, but now Charlie is 3-years-old, proving how strong the love of family truly is. They take it day by day and rejoice in his life, instead of fixating on the inevitable.
Cori is an incredibly strong individual and sees things different than most do. She knows, and shares openly to her children, that everyone will have their day and everyone will eventually die. It’s scary and something most people don’t want to talk about, yet there is a way to look at it and she wanted to share that with the world:
