LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Wednesday's Child segment comes to 13 Action News starting Wednesday with an exceptional adoption story.
Typically, we'll be featuring local foster kids seeking adoption.
But to start off, we're bringing you the story of Raiders fullback Alec Ingold who explains to us how adoption changed his life forever.
"It's people's lives, you're dealing with a child and it's so tough to decide or have a system in place. It says, we're going to decide what's best for this child," Ingold said.
Ingold speaks from experience.
As an infant, he was adopted by a family in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
From day one his family told him he was adopted.
"As soon as I could comprehend what adoption meant, it was already told to me, you know, it was never a secret. It was never anything coming out. So it was never a big deal. You know, I knew I looked a little different. I knew I was a little bit bigger than they were, but you know, at the end of the day it was just family and that's just how we work," Ingold said.
He knows he got lucky and he's leveraging his story and his popularity as a raiders player to help others, and partner with adoption organizations like Raise The Future to demystify adoptions.
"We desperately need people like Alec Ingold, that are advocating for children and for every child that is waiting in foster care," said councilman Brian Knudson.
Knudson is not only a Las Vegas City councilman but he is also on the board for Raise the Future service and most importantly, an adoptive father.
"I adopted two children, and it's the best thing I've ever done in my entire life, and I often tell people we have this misconception in our world that adults save children. And I completely disagree. I think children save adults and that's definitely true in my life. My two children saved me," Knudson said.
Raise the Future is our Wednesday's child partner for profiling foster children needing permanent homes, working together with advocates like Ingold to recruit loving adoptive families.
Ingold sleeps very well, knowing his story inspires others.
"At the end of the day, you're focusing on those kids there, their futures and how you can help them the best," he said.
EXTRA: Daily Debrief with Dave Courvoisier and Joyce Lupiani
