Families aren’t always bound by DNA. Sometimes you create your own family, and that bond can be thicker than blood.

For two Connecticut teachers, they found hope and strength through one of their students. He helped teach them lessons they didn’t know they had to learn. 

It all started with a visit to the young boy, who was sick in the hospital.

Jenna Riccio wanted to see how 10-year-old Nate was doing. She said that he always stood out in her reading class for his positivity

Nate had been in and out of the hospital for years, as he fought sickle cell anemia. According to Mayo Clinic, sickle cell anemia is when the red blood cells become misshapen, breaking down. Those cells leave a person with fewer healthy red blood cells, which can lead to fatigue, pain, and infections, among other things. 

The disease had led to complications for Nate. Three years ago, he had to have both legs amputated below the knee, as well his left arm and two and a half fingers on his right hand.

“He’s a perfect example of how you can persevere,” Tim Riccio, 38, told People Magazine. Tim, Nate’s art teacher, was dating Jenna at the time. 

He is so outgoing and so resilient,” Tim said. “He finds a way to do whatever he puts his mind to.”

When Nate was hospitalized again for surgery to stop an infection in his arm, Jenna went to visit him in the hospital.

“He was there by himself with no family,” she said. “I wanted to cheer him up and have someone he knew there with him.” 

It was then that Jenna found out that Nate was no longer in his family’s home. The child had been removed and would be put in a foster home an hour away from his school, once he was out of the hospital.

“Nate’s doctors were worried about him missing appointments and not getting the medical care he needed,” Jenna said. “I worried about what was going to happen to him.”

10-year-old Nate Riccio never let his disabilities dim his love for life. Photo by the Riccios

So she had an idea. Jenna asked a caseworker for the Department of Children and Families (DCF) if she might be able to foster Nate. When she told Tim, he was immediately on board with the idea. “I wanted to be a part of it,” he said.

After background checks and visits from the DCF, Nate was finally released from the hospital to Jenna’s home.

“Within weeks, it felt like we were a family,” Tim said. Soon after Nate moved in, Tim asked Jenna to marry him. The couple made Nate their ring bearer at the ceremony, just a short time later.

“The love in the room was amazing,” Jackie Vidal, Nate’s social worker, said. “People had to get in line to dance with Nate.”

Nate was officially adopted by the Riccios in the fall. “I was so happy,” he told People Magazine.

Nate Riccio holds his little sister, Julien. Photo by the Riccio Family

In addition to having a new role as the Riccios’ son, he gained a new title: Big Brother. Jenna gave birth to a daughter, Julien. “She’s obsessed with him,” she said, “and lights up when she hears his voice.”

With his new family, the young boy has flourished. He spends his time playing with his sister, and going to an acting workshop, in the hopes of being an actor some day. 

Every night I go to sleep thinking, ‘I’m very lucky,’” Nate said

His parents, however, say they are the ones who are lucky.  “He taught me how to be a mother,” Jenna said.

To watch this new family’s heartwarming story, click below.

Sources: People | GMA