The lad taking me in was crippled (5)
I believe the answer is:
lamed
'crippled' is the definition.
('lame' can be a synonym of 'cripple')
'the lad taking me' is the wordplay.
'taking' indicates putting letters inside.
'lad' placed around 'me' is 'LAMED'.
'in was' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lamed that I've seen before include "Medal (anag)" , "Crippled" , "With crippling injury" .)