A boy born without a hand and forearm beamed with joy when he was surprised with a storybook that contained a main character who was just like him.
Three-year-old Roman McCormack joyfully read through the pages at his family home in Glasgow, Scotland, with his mom Kim capturing every smile, laugh, and relatable moment on video.
Roman was born with a congenital limb defect that came with no prior warning before Kim’s 20-week scan, and is something they have lived with, and embraced, ever since.
Growing up, though, Roman and Kim noticed that not all of the characters in stories and TV shows were like him, and so Kim started looking for an inclusive book that her son could relate to.
One day, while baking cookies with Roman, Kim noticed a post on Instagram by an author, Jessica Parham, who gifts inclusive books as acts of kindness.
The book Kim saw was about a little boy with a limb difference… and he was baking.
Kim entered Jessica’s competition and won, and soon a copy of “Baking Up A Storm” – a book about how a little boy bakes with his mom in the kitchen before magical things happen – was headed their way thanks to a charity, Uniquely Me, which paid for shipping.
The book arrived on February 13, and Kim, who was eight months pregnant at the time, then recorded her son’s reaction, sharing the video with Jessica.
Jessica later posted the clips on her Instagram page, with the family then connecting to others whose children have limb differences.
Kim said: “I felt so emotional seeing how proud Roman was to see what he saw as himself in a book.
“He loved pointing at the little boy’s ‘little arm’ and he kept repeating, ‘One hand and my little arm: same as me.’
“I could see how proud he was and the excitement in his face.
“I told him, ‘See, being you is amazing.’
“Spreading kindness is the best feeling.
“And being unique is wonderful and should be celebrated every single day.”
Story via T&T Creative Media