Addiction’s innocent victims: Fetal alcohol syndrome ravages Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

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Top: In the chaos of a large family getting ready for school, Jeremy Boesem, 9, hugs his mom, Nora, while she tube-feeds son A.J., 9, in their home in Newell, South Dakota. The other Boesem children in the picture are, from left, Mark, 3; Kayleigh, 9, and Rachel, 14. All of the children were adopted by Boesem and her husband, Randy. Each child was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. (RYAN SODERLIN/THE WORLD-HERALD)


http://dataomaha.com/bigstory/news/addictions-innocent-victims

By Paul Hammel / World-Herald staff writer

Sunday, October 11, 2015

NEWELL, S.D. — In one arm, Nora Boesem held a 9-year-old boy who sobbed as he told of being beaten up on the bus ride home from school.

In the other arm, she cradled a 4-year-old girl, who was being fed through a tube in her stomach.

Across the room, another 9-year-old boy, whose wrists are permanently bent at 90-degree angles due to a birth defect, paced the floor.

And darting across the living room was a 3-year-old boy, who hurled a plastic toy against a wall.

FULL story at link.