Jade rebounding from ordeal

SANDY — When she left the hospital in September she weighed less than 20 pounds. She looked like a skeleton covered with a thin layer of skin and no muscles. She had little movement of her arms and legs. And the anxiety she was still suffering following weeks of alleged abuse resulted in subsequent months of sleepless nights.

Now, a little less than three months later, Jade Ferrando has made fantastic progress.

Jade, now 6, is all smiles as she sits in her wheelchair in her pink sweater, pink sweat pants and her pink "Princess" slippers with Disney characters such as Cinderella. She can relax her arms now and let them rest comfortably on each side of her chair. And when you ask her to show off her slippers, she gladly gives her legs a slight movement to point to her toes.

For Jade, it's tremendous progress considering where she was at just a few months ago.

In August, Jade was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center after her grandfather discovered her weighing just 12 pounds. She was supposed to be under the care of Michael John Bowden, the then-boyfriend of Jade's mother, Anahi Ferrando, who was serving her country in Iraq.

Bowden, 25, was later charged with second-degree felony child abuse. Wednesday, Bowden waived his preliminary hearing in 3rd District Court while pleading not guilty. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 15.

Today Jade is up to 27 pounds and has grown 4 inches in the short time she has been home from the hospital.

"She's almost to where she was at before I left" for Iraq, said Anahi Ferrando.

Jade, who has cerebral palsy, is even going to school. Jade is in a class with other children with disabilities at Jordan Valley. Ferrando said the school has done wonders in helping with her daughter's progress.

But the past few months since Jade was released from the hospital have been anything but easy on the Ferrando family.

Anahi had to return to duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in September, this time leaving her daughter in the care of Jade's grandfather, Rafael Ferrando.

Caring for Jade was a 24/7 job, Ferrando said. Even at night, he said, the stress and anxiety from her nightmarish ordeal caused Jade to not sleep for two months.

"I had to put my business on hold," he said. "It was hard on the whole family."