An Illinois woman granted her dying best friend’s final wish by adopting her four children.
“Sara Hankins, 36, is in the final stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease,” and as a single mother, she worries about what would happen to her children after she passes away.
Her best friend, Missy Armstrong, decided to grant Hankins her final wish by legally adopting three of her four children as well as taking in her oldest daughter who is 18, according to NBC’s Today show.
“I thought, yeah, I can do this,” Armstrong, 42, who has two children of her own, told Today. “I love them, and I’ve known them their whole lives. I make a decent living. I have the support of her family.”
Armstrong and Hankins are both single mothers who have been friends since 1999 when they met in hairdressing school.
“She would grab her kids and come to my house, or I would grab my kids and go to her house. We were always together,” Armstrong said.
Hankins was in shock when she heard the news that Armstrong would adopt her kids.
“I couldn’t stop crying,” she said. “My number one concern was keeping my kids together, because I think what they’re going to go through is hard enough.”
When news spread about the adoption, donations from kind strangers started arriving at her home, Metro UK reported.
Armstrong said she wanted to ensure the kids had a loving home and got to stay together.
“And that’s of course what Sara wants,” Armstrong said. “We’ve been best friends and we love each other. And I love the kids.”
Armstrong has also started a GoFundMe to raise money for a bigger house large enough for her new family.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.