In his 20 years as a foster father, Mohamed Bzeek has buried 10 children.
He's the only foster parent in Los Angeles County willing to take in the terminally ill children who are in the overworked foster care system. Despite the hardships and heartbreak, he carries on, offering love to those who need it most.
Now Bzeek is looking after another child who has known too much pain in her short life. She's 6-years-old, bedridden, blind and deaf. The victim of a brain defect that also left her paralyzed.
"I know she can't hear, can't see, but I always talk to her," he told the LA Times. "She has feelings. She has a soul. She's a human being."
There are approximately 35,00 children in the county's Department of Children and Family serives, 600 or so need dire medical assistance. Mostly these are looked after in hospital or in hospice, by nurses who have agreed to become foster parents.
Only Bzeek agrees to take the terminally ill children into his home.
"I know they are going to die," he said. "I do my best as a human being and leave the rest to God."
Bzeek is a deeply religious man who emigrated from Libya in the 1970s. He met his wife, Dawn, who was a foster parent at the time. They always took in the children with the most need, the ones no one else could take.
Melissa Testerman is an intake coordinator who finds placement for sick kids. She says Bzeek is the only name she thinks of when she hears a child needs a home.
Sadly those children will have to wait as Bzeek has his hands full with his foster daughter.
A GoFund me page has been set up to help Bzeek with his mission. It's already reached $364,000. Over $250,000 more than it's original goal. If you'd like to donate you can do so here.