Remember the story of the 15-year old boy who was found back in 2004 starved and chained to his bed in Lebanon? Josh Osborne died earlier this week, and a celebration of his life was held Friday night at the Springhouse Church in Smyrna.
Ten years ago, when authorities found Josh, he weighed only 49 pounds, and was suffering from malnutrition and related retardation problems.
His father, James C. Osborne III, and his stepmother, Christie Osborne, were convicted of neglect and attempted aggravated child abuse.
Freedom changed the teen's life and he moved to LaVergne to live with his aunt. With her encouragement, Josh graduated from LaVergne High School. He also appeared before the Tennessee General Assembly and helped legislators create better child abuse laws. In 2008, the Josh Osborne Law took effect, and it added starvation and dehydration to the definition of child abuse.
He was hired by Goodwill Industries in 2007, and named the Employee of the Year at the Antioch store in 2009. Josh went to work Monday, however he was rushed to the hospital later that day, and passed away around 2:45 Wednesday morning (7/9/2014).
The sanctuary at Springhouse Church in Smyrna was packed Friday evening (7/11/2014), as the community celebrated the life of Josh Osborne.
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