Single gay man adopted severely-ill child and raised him to be an Olympic champion
From a very young age, Jerry Windle always knew he wanted to be a dad. But as a single gay man, people often told him that he could never be a father.
“Even folks who loved me said, you can’t be a dad if you’re going to be gay.”
Then he proved everyone wrong in the most fabulous way possible!
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Back in the late 90’s being gay and raising a family wasn’t really a thing.
“There was such homophobia and bigotry around the concept of a gay person being a parent,” Jerry told TODAY‘s Hoda Kotb.
He continued to hold onto that belief until he came across a magazine article about a man who adopted a kid from Cambodia. There was no mention of a mother, which renewed Jerry’s hope of actually becoming a father!
He immediately called the agency listed in the article and was elated when they confirmed that he was eligible to adopt! A few months later, he found himself holding a very sickly 2-year-old boy at a Cambodian orphanage.
“I didn’t know if he would live or die.”
Even though the malnourished toddler was severely underweight at 16 pounds and was fighting an infection, it was still love at first sight for the proud new pop.
The odds seemed to be stacked against both of them, but Jerry made a promise to the boy right then and there.
No matter what sacrifices he had to make as a parent, Jerry would make sure that his son would have access to all the opportunities in life that he deserved.
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And Jerry followed through on that promise! His son, Jordan Windle, went on to compete for the U.S. men’s diving team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
He became the first person of Cambodian descent to do so.
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Jordan’s journey to the Olympics began when he was 7 years old. He asked his father if he could take diving lessons, and two years later he won his first junior national championship. That was pretty much unheard of in the sport.
When he was 16, Jordan returned home to Cambodia for a diving competition, but then the unexpected happened!
A sea of media greeted him – they all knew who Jordan was because of the internet.
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“He’s kind of a national hero in Cambodia.”
Jerry added, “We got off the airplane and I started looking all over the place, thinking Angelina Jolie had just arrived or something. We really thought either the king of Cambodia or Angelina Jolie was here, someone big.'”
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Jordan is proud of his heritage and he had the Cambodian flag tattooed on his arm so everyone can see it when he dives.
“People in Cambodia really believe that Jordan was meant to bring light,” Jerry told Good Morning America.
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And Jerry is the perfect father – single, gay, or otherwise – to help guide that light to shine even brighter.
“I’m more blessed that he’s my son. As a person, I’m more blessed than anything I’ve done for him.”
Watch the video below to find out more about this family’s incredible journey.
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Source: TODAY, Good Morning America, Texas Longhorns