NADIA BLOOM - 11 yo - Winter Springs FL

A Florida man says God led him to an 11-year-old girl lost for days
in a swamp. James King clutched his Bible outside a Manhattan TV studio
Wednesday as he told The Associated Press that his rescue mission took
him into a dangerous part of the swamp where it's easy to slip and fall.
He says he was watching out for snakes and reciting passages from
the Bible about serpents. The father of five also says that when he
found Nadia Bloom, he was surprised she was not panicked or even
worried. King says Nadia, a member of a church he once attended,
joined him in reading another biblical passage about God directing
people's paths. "He's a little bit more evangelical," said
Nadia's mother, Tanya, of James King, "but I firmly believe in God," she
added. "We are so fortunate that God used him to bring our child back
to us."At a news conference on Wednesday, Nadia's parents spoke to the media
for the first time about their whole ordeal. Tanya Bloom said
her daughter told her she was praying, often quoting verses from
Proverbs 3:5-6. These were the same verses James King quoted to Nadia
after he found her in the swamp, as heard in a 911 call. It
reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your
paths straight." "There were times with hope... times with
questions. It got to the point that I couldn't cry any more," Tonya
said. "I did not watch the news, because I have a newborn and the stress
was too much to take." Law enforcement officers first believed
Nadia was inspired to go on her trek through the swamp after reading an
American Girl book about an adventurous young girl. "She did not
go on this adventure based on this book," said Tanya, adding that the
book belonged to Nadia's sister, Sofia, and not Nadia. Nadia's
father, Jeff Bloom, said his body developed waves of devastation and
hope as he awaited word from rescuers. "One of the darkest times
you feel is right before night fall," said Jeff Bloom. "You don't where
she is or what condition she's in... your heart just breaks."The Blooms said they have not asked Nadia too many questions about
her ordeal, allowing her time to recover. "We're looking forward to the
whole story," said Nadia's father Jeff Bloom. "We really have not
allowed them to know the publicity of this," said Tanya, answering a
question about how Nadia and her younger sister have adjusted to the
media attention. "This is not our personality," she added. In
describing Nadia, Tanya said she is one "smart cookie" and an
"out-of-the-box thinker," but sometimes not as social as some of her
friends. When asked what might change moving forward,
now that Nadia is safe with her family. "You do the best you can
as a parent. Your children have to learn obedience and you have to trust
them as well," said Tanya. "I don't feel I made a mistake." A
GPS bracelet has been purchased for Nadia according to family spokesman
Robert Harding.Doctors say Nadia had some bruises and bites and was dehydrated, but
was otherwise okay. They are continuing to run tests regarding a
bacterial infection, but Nadia appears to be recovering nicely,
according to those treating her. "She's had no fever and
she's doing well," said Dr. Mary Farrell, with Arnold Palmer Hospital.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to discharge her in a couple of days."

Winter Springs girl Nadia Bloom remains in good spirits today at
Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, two days after being rescued from a
Central Florida swamp."Everything is going fairly well," said
Robert Harding, a spokesman for Nadia's family. He saw the 11-year-old
this morning."She's in good spirits, but she still has nicks and
abrasions," Harding said.Nadia was taken to South Seminole
Hospital in Longwood Tuesday after a volunteer searcher found her in
alligator-infested water near Lake Jesup. She had been missing for four
days.The girl was transferred to Arnold Palmer Hospital for
Children that evening. Tests found bacteria in her blood, but she had no
fever and was eating and drinking, one of her doctors said in a news
conference Wednesday afternoon.The parents of Nadia Bloom said
they went through a "roller coaster" of emotions as a search for her
lingered for four days.At a news conference at Arnold Palmer
Hospital for Children on Wednesday, Jeff and Tanya Bloom said their
emotions teetered between hope and doubt. Each evening, as night fell,
Jeff Bloom thought about his daughter, alone in the dark."Your
heart just breaks," Jeff Bloom said. "When the darkness comes over, that
just adds to the uncertainty."They believe God had a hand in
leading volunteer searcher James King to their girl Tuesday morning."I
just wanted her back," Tanya Bloom said. "And I'm glad God used him
[King]."Nadia vanished Friday after leaving her home on a bike
ride. Her bike and helmet were found near her home, but a search by her
mother and neighbors came up empty-handed.For the next four days,
searchers hunted for Nadia on foot, by helicopter and with dogs.
Volunteers used machetes to cut through the dense brush. They placed
water for Nadia to drink in the woods, along with signs telling her to
drink. They hung whistles, too, hoping she would find one and signal for
help.King found Nadia Tuesday in some of Central Florida's most
dense swamp, exhausted and dehydrated but alive.Nadia is
receiving antibiotics intravenously, said Dr. Mary Farrell, who is
treating the girl.Nadia is eating and drinking, and her
temperature is normal, Farrell said."This is pretty special
because the outcome is good," Farrell added.On Wednesday, Nadia
Bloom's rescuer, James King, appeared on NBC's Today Show and on CNN and
recounted how he found the missing girl."'Thank you' is not an
appropriate word for what James King did for bringing back our child,"
Tanya Bloom said.King set off through the swamp to find Nadia
before 7 a.m. Tuesday. He waded for nearly two hours in knee-deep water
before finding her."As soon as the sun came up I couldn't imagine
leaving her out there," King, 44, told host Meredith Vieira.King
also talked about how his family's faith helped guide him to
11-year-old Nadia.He told Vieira that on Monday night his wife,
Diane King, told him, "James, when we lose something we pray in the
spirit and we always find it."On Tuesday, King packed a cell
phone, toilet paper, chocolate milk and some other items and headed out
to the swampland surrounding alligator-infested Lake Jesup.When
asked about packing toilet paper, King said, "I thought maybe I would
leave markers so that I would be able to have a way back out."He
said he headed east and eventually discovered Nadia — bug-bitten and
dehydrated, but in good spirits.Winter Springs police Chief Kevin
Brunelle said his investigators were skeptical when they first heard
reports of how King had found Nadia, but they found nothing to indicate
that King was being anything but straight-forward with them."I
think we're done with him," Brunelle said of King. "The man is a hero."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/os-nadia-bloom-missing-20100412,0,4840587.story
By Alan Schmadtke, Orlando Sentinel
6:11 p.m. EDT, April 16, 2010

A newly released photo of Nadia Bloom from Arnold Palmer Hospital for
Children shows the 11-year-old girl in apparent good spirits -- two
days after her miraculous rescue from the woods of Winter Springs.

A photo of Bloom was provided to the Orlando Sentinel by NBC's "Today." It was taken yesterday.

The photo was broadcast this morning on "Today."

Bloom was rescued Tuesday from a dense, swampy wooded area near her family's home by alligator-infested Lake Jesup.

She had been missing for four days before volunteer searcher James King
walked into the woods and 90 minutes later was able to locate her.

Nadia was dehydrated and covered by insect bites.

She received intravenous antibiotics, said Dr. Mary Farrell, who is
treating the girl. She is eating and drinking, and her temperature is
normal, Farrell said.

It is not clear when Nadia will be released from the hospital.

This morning's "Today" segment was not what was planned.

Producers and Bloom's parents initially hoped to do a live interview
from the girl's hospital room until other networks got word of the NBC
show's scoop, said Geo Morales, a hospital spokesman.

Those programs asked for access to the girl as well, making Bloom's
parents worry the interview would attract more media to the hospital,
Morales said. They canceled the interview.

"The family felt there was a possibility of the other news networks causing unplanned chaos," Morales said.

The morning show's request was one of dozens of media requests for
interviews received by the hospital. CNN, ABC, CBS, "Inside Edition"
and a variety of other outlets have called, the spokesman said.

Even Oprah is interested, a spokeswoman from her show acknowledged.

"We have reached out to the family, but nothing is confirmed at this
time," said Angela DePaul, a spokeswoman for "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Who will land the first interview with Nadia?

"She's not currently scheduled to be on the show Monday," said a spokeswoman for "Today."

Meanwhile, an investigation into Nadia's disappearance continues.
Winter Springs police spoke briefly with Nadia before she was
transported to a hospital in Longwood immediately after her rescue and
again with her at the hospital, but investigators plan to talk to her
again at length after she is released from the hospital, police chief
Kevin Brunelle said.

Police interviewed King after his rescue. Investigators said they have
no reason to doubt the creditability of his story, that God led him to Nadia.

Sentinel staff writers Gary Taylor, Sarah Lundy and Susan Jacobson contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010, Orlando Sentinel

The grandmother of an 11-year-old who was rescued after spending nearly
five days lost in the wilderness this week said she believes the girl's
Asperger's syndrome may have helped her survive her ordeal.
Nadia Bloom was diagnosed as a small child with Asperger's syndrome, a
mild form of autism in which children have difficulty with social
communication and social issues, according to her paternal grandmother,
Marge Bloom of Indialantic.For Nadia, the disorder manifests itself in having
less sociability than other children; intent focus on nature and
wildlife; misunderstanding figurative meanings or gestures, such as
teasing or rolled eyes; and occasional "socially inappropriate"
responses when anxious or tired, Bloom said. She described her
granddaughter as bright, curious and imaginative. She's a spelling-bee
and writing-contest champion who began reading at age 2 but whose focus
sometimes can cause her to "get lost in her own little world," Bloom
said.The media
attention surrounding Nadia's search and rescue raised questions about
what exactly Asperger's syndrome is.According to experts with Florida Tech's Scott
Center for Autism, Asperger's typically is diagnosed in early childhood
to adolescence and, unlike autism -- in which a child usually has
"deficits in language" -- a child with Asperger's is typically very
high-functioning. It's unknown what causes the disorder, though experts
said there are genetic and environmental components involved.There's no known cure.
"Autism is called a spectrum disorder. Within that spectrum is
Asperger's syndrome, which is sometimes referred to as
higher-functioning autism," said executive director
Fran Warkomski. "There's varied ability within that spectrum, just as it
is within the general population."She said it's uncertain what role the syndrome might
have played in Nadia's getting lost, her response to her four-day ordeal
or her recovery.Nadia
was riding her bike near her Winter Springs home April 9 when, she
later told her parents, she decided to test out her new camera by taking
a nature walk but became lost in the woods surrounding Lake Jesup, her
grandmother said.
"The one thing that probably hurt her is she kept walking and walking
and walking" because Nadia was so focused on taking nature photos, said Bloom, a
secondary writing resource teacher for Brevard Public Schools. "But it
probably helped her because of her knowledge about survival."
Bloom said Nadia told her family
she crawled into a log one night to stay warm and slept next to it
another night and covered herself with leaves. The girl didn't attempt
to drink the swamp water."She
had a vast amount of knowledge with all the reading she'd done, and
then her ability to focus and call upon all the things she knew . . .
(including) the Bible verses she knew to keep hope and think herself
through," Bloom said.The
girl was treated at a hospital this week for dehydration, scrapes and
bug bites following a massive search by civilian rescuers, divers and
police with dogs and helicopters. She was found Tuesday a former member
of the church the girl's family attends, in a dry patch in the middle of
the swamp, the Associated Press reported.About one in 110 U.S. children have some form of
autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The disorder crosses all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and males are
diagnosed more often than females on a 4-to-1 ratio, Florida Tech
experts said."A
lot of times the responses to something are so unique child to child,
that to generalize it is really hard, especially when you don't have any
background information on
that child," Warkomski said. "I think there are lots of kids that get
lost all the time. But children are children. I think that's a bigger
part of the story -- children are children first."Bloom said her granddaughter began exhibiting
symptoms in preschool. For example, Nadia would ask constant questions
about shapes or become fixated until a relative or even a stranger would
fasten a button on their shirt.Even now, when she visits her grandmother's home, she
checks to make sure everything is in place, Bloom said."She's had training from the time she was very young
to get over some of the social difficulties she's had, and she tries
very hard to do that," Bloom said.". . .We have always preferred to call her 'quirky'
rather than Asperger's because she's got a mild form of it and a lot of
times you wouldn't even know."Nadia's mother, Tanya Bloom, said Asperger's had
nothing to do with Nadia's unplanned adventure, the Orlando Sentinel
reported. Instead, Bloom said she and her husband, Jeff Bloom, thought
Nadia might have wandered farther into the woods than authorities
expected because she is an "out-of-the-box thinker."

Five days after being rescued, Nadia Bloom, 11, is still recovering
in a Central Florida hospital. The little girl spent almost five
days alone in the swampy woods near Lake Jesup until she was found.Members
of the Covenant Community Church met for the first time Sunday for
services to celebrate what many call a miracle.Many said they are
breathing a sigh of relief.Nadia is like a family member to
them, and they're just happy she returned home.“I once was lost,
but now I'm found” is a verse deeply rooted in the Christian church and
carries great meaning when it comes to Nadia."There were a lot of
people that had been searching for her and people that cared about
her," said Ashley Dixon said. "It's a great Bible story. Lost
child now found," Pastor Jeff Dixon said."All of our worries had
gone away," Ashley Dixon said.This time last week, church members
were more than worried. Nadia was still missing after wandering into
the woods. Since her rescue, Pastor Dixon has visited her in the
hospital."She looks great, sounds great. Sounds like herself,"
Dixon said.During their visit Nadia told Pastor Dixon about her
adventures."She took a few pictures,” Pastor Dixon said. “She was
exploring. Got lost. At nighttime she was trying to sleep, trying to
stay out of the mud, which probably dictated a lot of the path that she
was taking."Pastor Dixon said while on her uncertain course,
Nadia recited a Bible scripture from Proverbs 3.5-6. Trust in the
Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all
your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.Both
the scripture and Nadia's story were the focus of Sunday's sermon. It
was one Pastor Dixon said is a true act of God."Nadia getting to
come home is certainly that happy ending that you always hope for,”
Pastor Dixon said. “So there's a lot to celebrate and nobody is taking
that for granted. It's miraculous."Nadia and her family were not
in attendance, as they remain by her side in the hospital while she
recuperates. The hospital said she could be there a couple more
days, but Dixon said it's no guarantee.
Poster's Note:Let this Roll after you read the above and get yourself some Churchin'!