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Sandra Yi ReportingThe five-year old girl allegedly abused by her mother's boyfriend is out of the hospital.
Jade has spent the past two-and-a-half weeks at Primary Children's Medical Center. She is well enough to go home now, but she still has a ways to go before she's completely recovered. At the hospital, she was able to gain four pounds.
Anahi Ferrando, Mother: "She's been eating everything pretty much. They try to keep her on softer foods, but pretty much anything you give her, shell eat."
She's still only at half her normal weight. She'll have to continue on a strict diet, undergo physical therapy, and meet regularly with doctors.
Jade left the hospital in the arms of her mother this afternoon. Her mom says she still is suffering from some psychological damage. She hasn't been able to sleep the past two weeks, even with the help of medications.
Jade has cerebral palsy and can't walk or talk, but her mother says she is communicating in her own way.
Anahi Ferrando, Mother: "She has a lot of facial expressions, that's mostly how she communicates. Some movements with, you know, her head, her arms. But they're still pretty slim because, you know, she's had a lot of neglect."
Jade weighed only 13 pounds when her grandfather got temporary custody and rushed her to the hospital last month. Jade's mother had left the girl in the care of her boyfriend, Michael Bowden, when she left to serve in Iraq.
Police say Bowden starved the girl. Prosecutors charged him with child abuse, but he has refused to leave his jail cell to go to court, so he has yet to appear before a judge.
Anahi Ferrando: "Sooner or later he's gonna have to man up to what he did. I mean, at this point we really have nothing to do anymore with him."
Jade's mom has been on leave from the army for the past two weeks. She has to report to Ft. Hood in Texas on Monday, but she's hoping to get reassigned and not have to return to Iraq. In the meantime, Jade's grandparents will care for her.
