Marc Hadden, an American firefighter who had saved dozens of lives in Myrtle Beach, a seaside town on the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, found himself, on 14 November 2011, he found himself delivering a baby for the first time to a woman who had called 911 to complain of abdominal pain.
"She fought from the very moment she was placed in my care", recalls Marc, aged 48, who, a few seconds after his birth, was given emergency oxygen to help him regain normal breathing. "It was incredible to hear her crying". At the time, Marc could never have imagined that, 48 hours later, he would be bringing the little girl – whom they named Rebecca Grace – home.
Marc and his wife, who already had two young sons, had always wanted a third child, but because of complications during the first two pregnancies, they were forced to take the long and costly route of adoption.
So, a few hours later, at the hospital, when the biological mother made it clear that she couldn’t look after her daughter, Marc was the first to put his hand up. His wife recalls receiving a phone call from Marc that day, in which he told her "I gave birth to a baby". Jokingly, she replied, "Can we keep it?". Well, he replied: "I think she might be in the process of adopting me". A lovely story.