Physically disabled Korean adoptee to America, Adam King, 9, gives his adoptive father, Charles King, a hug at their room in Lotte Hotel Seoul yesterday.The opening games of the baseball season have seen all kinds of guest pitchers before - former President Chun Doo Hwan, the winner of a beauty pageant, celebrity musicians - but never a nine-year-old boy with two metal legs.
To launch the new season for the Korean Baseball League will be Adam King, a Korean adoptee to America, who will pitch the first ball of the opening game today at Chamsil Stadium. He flew in from Los Angeles yesterday morning specifically for the event.
"I hope I don't hit the catcher," Adam, who has metal legs below the knees, said during an interview with The Korea Herald yesterday in his room at Lotte Hotel. "I practiced really hard."
Adam is very close to being a celebrity here as his story is growing wings.
Born in Seoul in 1991, Adam, whose Korean name is Oh In-ho, had a unique disability at birth - he was missing the bones below his knees. In 1995, when he was adopted by an American couple named Charles and Donna King, Adam underwent amputation surgery, the only option open to him at the time. Adam now walks effortlessly with two bright-colored metal legs, without the help of crutches.
"I think I was chosen to do this (pitch ball at opening game) to show other kids that even if they are disabled, there is nothing they can't do," Adam said, stopping his giggling for a minute to be serious. This brought a proud smile from his adoptive father, who accompanied him on the trip.
It was this unusual brightness and cheerful attitude, in fact, that won him the attention of Korea's First Lady Lee Hee-ho, who masterminded his participation in the game today.
She first saw him during her visit to the United States in 1998, when he walked up to her and told her that he was adopted from Korea and would like to visit there. She sent the invitation a few months later and Adam visited Seoul. When the first lady went to South Carolina last year to receive an award for her social work, it was Adam who walked up to her, without crutches this time, and handed her a bouquet of flowers.
"The first lady was so proud of him, and when she found out that he loves baseball, she thought of the idea of inviting him to the opening game," Lee's chief secretary said.
There is no doubt that Adam is a role model to Koreans, which partially explains the media frenzy over his story here.
While the disabled children here are often discriminated against and kept in the shadows, it appears that Adam has experienced no such limitations.
A cheerful boy with a sunny smile, Adam is quite a busybody, playing baseball in the Challenge League (team for disabled children), enjoying boyhood in the Cub Scouts and always planning one trick or another with his best buddy, Bobbie.
"Do you know how I stopped using crutches? I went to Disneyland with my family three years ago. I went on a ride without crutches and when I came back, they were gone. That's how I started walking without them," he said, obviously proud.
Adam would not be where he is today without his loving adoptive parents, however.
Senior King, 48, a system's analyst at Hughes Aircraft, and his wife Donna King, 48, a former nurse and now housewife, are dedicated Christians who started adopting disabled children to help them even though they had three of their own. They currently have eight adopted children from all parts of the world, four of them from Korea. Adam is the third child they adopted.
"Even before we got married, when we were in high school, we knew we wanted to adopt less fortunate children as well as have our own. We planned on having two and adopting two. But then God took over," King said.
The Kings are currently trying to adopt their ninth child, fifth from Korea, a three-year-old boy named Kim Kyung-bin (Joseph). The child is also disabled with a disease related to cerebral palsy. He and Adam will visit Joseph tomorrow.
With five children from Korea in his family, one of Kings' biggest concerns is teaching them about their native country and culture. They currently have many books on Korea at home, regularly show the kids videos about the country and participate actively within the local Korean community. "We even cook Korean food," King said.
"I like kimchi, rice, pulgogi (barbequed beef) and mandu (dumplings)," Adam chimed in, licking his lips.
During his four-day trip, Adam and his father will visit his Korean foster mom, attend dinner with the members of Korean baseball associations and a luncheon with the first lady, visit their hope-to-be brother/son Joseph and tour temples and old palaces.
"People always tell us how great what we are doing is, what huge sacrifices we must be making. But we don't feel that way at all. We didn't plan for this to happen, but God certainly had a greater plan for us. These are all just very loveable kids to us," King said.
"Before we left, my wife wondered if Adam's biological parents will recognize him from all this media attention and come to the baseball game to see him. If they do, we both hope that they will be proud of him and think that we've done a good job raising him. That's all we hope."
Printed with permission By The Korea Herald, Kim Mi-hui, Staff reporter, May 04, 2001
