It’s truly something when we experience one of those completely life-altering moments on the job on a day that seems like any other routine day at work.
Such was the case for Lieutenant Brian Zach, an Arizona police officer who was working the night shift as a patrol sergeant when he received a call to perform a welfare check.
When he arrived on the scene and went into the home, he immediately spotted a little girl and just knew that something wasn’t right. The little girl’s name was Kayla, and she was around 2 years old at the time.
“Her injuries were definitely abuse and it needed to be investigated,” Brian recalled. Kayla had dried blood in both of her ears and bruises everywhere, and one of her eyes was swollen. This had been the third time in which her abuse had been reported to the authorities.
Despite everything, though, Brian remembers that Kayla still had a smile on her face when they met that day, and he would even describe her overall demeanor as “happy-go-lucky.”
When Kayla came back to the police station with Brian, the two immediately bonded. They watched a movie together, and Brian could just feel that something special was already forming between himself and this incredible little girl.
“I told my wife the story about this little girl that I just bonded with and would love to bring her home,” Brian explained in a clip to ABC15. Only this wasn’t the first time he expressed similar feelings to his partner, as throughout his 15 years on the job, he had come across many children whom he connected with and wanted to help.
To learn the full story of how Brian Zach and little Kayla eventually became family, watch the video in full.
