Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 29, 2022 49 ND SPORTS BY TODD D. BURLAGE F or a snapshot look into the impover- ished upbringing Izaiah Steury lived before he arrived in the United States from Ethiopia in 2013, consider that the Notre Dame freshman doesn't even know precisely how old he is. An unreliable birth certificate from back in his homeland makes him 20 years old. A hand X-ray needed to fi- nalize his U.S. citizenship nine years ago measured him to be 19 years old today. The rest, well, it's guesswork. Whatever his age, Steury's story of overcoming abandonment, abuse, re- location, and even hyena attacks, to become an Indiana high school cross country state champion — turned valu- able rookie member of the 2022 Irish team — is equally remarkable as it is inspiring. WHERE TO BEGIN? A real-life shepherd at the ripe age of 5 years old, Izaiah — whose given name growing up was Sbhat, meaning "praise to the father" — shares stories of how instead of going to school during his formative years, he spent those hours herding his family's sheep, goats, cattle and donkeys. Ignorance being bliss, Steury minded his business and handled his chores. Living in a mud hut with no electric- ity or telephone, Steury's isolation squashed all perspective. "It wasn't that difficult," Steury ex- plained of his daily sunrise-to-sunset work shift. "You didn't have anything to compare it to. It's all you knew. You just did it." Content in his space, Steury's world flipped as an 8-year-old when his mother died from a sudden illness. "I cried a lot then," he said. Steury also shared how shortly after birth, his biological father abandoned the family. "Never met him," Izaiah said. So, with his father MIA, his mother deceased and the remnants of his fam- ily strained and sometimes violent after his mother passed, Steury grew lonely and lost. RELOCATION MATTERS In a 2020 story by the Indianapo- lis Star, feature writer David Woods explains how upon the death of his mother, Steury had his contentment turn to contention. Too young to care for himself but old enough to feel hurt, isolated and un- wanted, Steury moved in with his aunt, an arrangement that didn't last long be- cause of tight quarters and even tighter finances. From there, Steury briefly lived with his older sister, Kiros, until that ar- rangement failed for similar reasons. Sent to live with a second aunt, Steury said he suffered a brutal stick beating from his uncle there and was on the move again. Taken in for a second time by Kiros, Steury saw his life's course change. Unable to keep Izaiah permanently but unwilling to abandon him like so many others had, Kiros began the process of getting her little brother into a government orphanage. "I knew that was probably the best course for me," Steury recalled. "There weren't many good options." Steury's application was accepted, and he spent about three years living in Ethiopian orphanages until an opportu- nity to be adopted and relocated to the United States surfaced. EVERYTHING CHANGES Tammy and Leroy Steury, and their four biological children, were content and comfortable living in Angola, Ind., tucked away in the northeast corner of the state. Even before starting their own fam- ily, this giving Christian couple always planned and aspired to change a child's life through adoption. Call it circumstance or good fortune, the Steurys became familiar with an international adoption agency called American World, which connected them with Sbhat, an abandoned child who wanted and needed a home. "I was beyond excited because there was somebody that finally wanted me," Izaiah Steury said. "I could actually have a family." The couple made a trip to Ethiopia to meet Sbhat — who hadn't yet changed his name to Izaiah — and a connection was made. Bureaucracy delays dragged out the process. But in 2013 as an 11-year-old, Steury arrived in Angola — a small city in Indiana, not the country in Africa. "I had this little map of the United States, and the only state I knew was In- diana," Steury said. "Every time I looked at the map, I would think, 'That's where I'm going someday.' It was humbling. Not many Americans want to adopt an 11-year-old boy." No turning back, Izaiah arrived, and was slotted in the middle of two older sisters and two younger brothers, who at time ranged in age from about 7 to 13 years old. Overnight, an outcast Ethiopian child became the Steury's middle child. "And I felt like I was part of the fam- ily since Day 1," Izaiah said in reflection. "It's an absolute gift to have them in my life. God, thank you, thank you so much." WHAT'S NEXT? Unable to speak any English, and clueless to where he was on the globe Life On The Other Side: Izaiah Steury Is Setting His Course In his first race as a member of the Fighting Irish, Steury crossed the finish line first at the Winrow- Valparaiso Invite Sept. 2 in Valparaiso, Ind. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS