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Former Romanian orphan aims to help others

In 1991, young Izidor Ruckel meets his adoptive family in San Diego. When he was in Romania's Institute for the Unsalvageables, he begged a visiting American documentary filmmaker to take him to the U.S. The American helped him and others.

In 1991, young Izidor Ruckel meets his adoptive family in San Diego. When he was in Romania’s Institute for the Unsalvageables, he begged a visiting American documentary filmmaker to take him to the U.S. The American helped him and others.

  (Thomas B. Szalay / For The Times)

Izidor Ruckel once lived in a Romanian orphanage called the Institute for the Unsalvageables.

A former Romanian orphan in Denver

An orphanage in Romania.

  (Thomas B. Szalay / For The Times)

A former Romanian orphan in Denver

Adoptive mother Marlys Ruckel and Izidor Ruckel in Denver. As a teen, Izidor rebelled against his parents. Years alter, a visit with his birth parents taught him the real value of adoptive parents.

  (Thomas B. Szalay / For The Times)

A former Romanian orphan in Denver

Ruckel adjusts a brace he wears after suffering from polio in his childhood.

  (Thomas B. Szalay / For The Times)

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A former Romanian orphan in Denver

Ruckel visits a Romanian orphanage.

  (Thomas B. Szalay / For The Times)

A former Romanian orphan in Denver

Ruckel visits the Romanian orphanage where he lived. Back then, sedated outcasts with shaved heads were shackled to beds and even radiators.

  (Thomas B. Szalay / For The Times)

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