The first several tapings were fun, and I must admit, quite easy. “Not so tough,” I thought. Everything changed two months later when I met Timmy. I was told by his social worker to meet me at an office building, third floor in downtown Boston on Boylston Street. When I arrived with my cameraman at the appointed hour, I was met by the social worker, standing in a hallway with her hands clasped behind her, holding on to the doorknob. “Well,” she said, “I want you to keep an open mind because Timmy is a little different.” I thought how bad could it be with a little seven-year-old? As soon as I opened the door, I heard a combination scream and moan and then the thump of a little head slamming against the wall.

I turned to the social worker, saying she should try to stop him before he hurt himself. I almost turned around to leave, knowing I could not put such a display to self-mutilation on TV. But I did not leave. I told the cameraman to put the camera and audio box on the floor in the middle of that bare room. Timmy had not stopped his head-banging. In those days we had a rather large microphone with a big logo of WBZ and a large 4 placed on it. The microphone fell to the floor. As soon as Timmy saw it, he sprang from the wall and ran to the mike and starting babbling into it. I told the cameraman to start recording. Anything was better than the self-destructive display of our initial meeting.

Then I interviewed the social worker, and she described the type of parents that would be ideal for Timmy. That was all we could do. I feared no one would call for Timmy.

That Wednesday the segment aired and what happened next turned out to be a miracle and one of the greatest life lessons for me.

You will not believe what happened……. I still shake my head in awe.

Details coming up in part 4.

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