Fireman Helps Woman Deliver Baby & Adopts The Child As His Own 2 Days Later

Mar 22, 2023 by apost team

Some of the calls that firefighters respond to end up changing their lives. The job usually entails putting out fires and rescuing people from burning buildings, but this situation that firefighter Marc Hadden dealt with was more unusual. This time, when Hadden saved someone's life, it changed his own life as well. In 2011, Hadden responded to a call in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, regarding a woman who was experiencing severe abdominal pain. It turned out the woman was about to give birth — and the baby eventually came to be Hadden's child.

Hadden described that day in November as a typically slow day.

"I will never forget that day. It was a day when a lot of things came full circle," Hadden told CNN. 

He was having dinner, and there hadn't been any activity that day yet. Having no calls created a sense of anticipation that was fitting for what happened next. The call they received was from a woman who reported that she had severe pains in her abdomen.

When the emergency personnel arrived, they discovered that the woman was about to give birth. Unfortunately, the woman had been in labor for too long, and there wasn't enough time to take her to the hospital. The firefighters realized that the situation was critical. They gave her oxygen, plugged in some intravenous equipment and loaded her into the ambulance.

However, before the ambulance could leave, Hadden's partner called out that the baby was coming already, so they had to deliver it in the ambulance. The baby came out so quickly they didn't even have time to cut the woman's clothes.

Recalling the incident, Hadden told TODAY, "It was a normal slow day in November. We were sitting down to eat, hadn't had a call all day." He added that soon enough, he got a call about a woman who was complaining of severe abdominal pain and immediately left to help her. As soon as Hadden and the other firefighters were on the scene, they quickly realized the woman was actually in labor.

"It was a pretty serious call for us," Hadden continued. "We got her on some oxygen, started some IVs and literally as we were getting ready to leave the parking lot in the ambulance, my partner said, 'We're about to deliver a baby right here.' We had no time to prepare. Before we could do anything — we hadn't even cut her clothes — Gracie came right out. Immediately she was handed to me."

It is certainly a special feeling to be delivering a baby! However, this meant that there was a lot more to do than originally thought, and their slow day became quite fast-paced. "We went from caring for one patient to two: the woman and the baby," Hadden said. 

The firefighter took the baby to a nearby hospital to provide proper care for the newborn. Two days afterward, Hadden called the hospital to check on the infant. The hospital told Hadden that the woman, who Hadden suspected was homeless, was putting the baby up for adoption. 

Parents do not take the decision to put their child up for adoption lightly, but it seemed to be the best decision for the little girl.

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Coincidentally, Hadden and his wife were trying to have a baby at that time, so the opportunity to adopt this newborn seemed like a message from the powers of fate. Hadden decided to adopt the baby, and she went home two days after Hadden got the news about the adoption opportunity. 

"I don't know if I have words. I never envisioned that I would have a daughter. We are truly blessed, for sure," Hadden told WMBF.

Grace, who is nicknamed Gracie, turned out to be the answer to Hadden's prayers. "She's amazing," Hadden gushed. "She takes gymnastics, she's getting ready to start kindergarten next year at the school where my wife teaches. She's a pretty remarkable kid."

The Hadden family also has two other children. They both love their sister very much, and she shares the same affection for her adoptive siblings. Hadden described his own bond with Gracie as one that was "tighter than thieves." Little Gracie knows about her birth and adoption, and she proudly tells people that her daddy delivered her in an ambulance. 

“If you ask her where she was born, she says, ‘My daddy delivered me in the back of an ambulance,'" the beaming father said.

Although Hadden hasn’t released any public updates regarding his adopted daughter since 2017, their story continues to resonate with the online community.

“(This story) just shows one that God can have you in the right place at the right time for all the right reasons... this is such a wonderful, heart-touching story,” one YouTuber wrote in response to the below video.  

Stories like this show us that even a single day can entirely change your life, and most importantly, it reminds us that there are people who do good every day. 

Do you think this was fate? Let us know. And if this story warmed your heart, pass it on to friends and family members.