Girl spends Christmas with family that wanted to adopt her

A 14-YEAR-OLD girl whose adoption by a Kerry couple was stopped at the last minute in 2002 has returned to Belarus after spending Christmas with them in Tralee.

George and Mary Sugrue, who have been involved in the Chernobyl Children’s Project for 10 years, met then four-year-old Marharyta in 2000.

She was severely disabled, believed to be an orphan and was about to be sent to a mental institution.