On a January night, while working an overnight shift, a firefighter in Ocala, Florida, was awoken by an alarm. It was an alarm signaling that a newborn had been left in the building's Safe Haven Baby Box. Upon finding the baby, the firefighter, who wishes to remain anonymous, made a decision that would change his life forever.
In time, the baby girl that he found would end up becoming his daughter. The firefighter and his wife had been struggling for over a decade to have children. In that moment, he knew he wanted to adopt the baby girl.
Upon taking baby Zoey to the hospital, the firefighter wrote a note and left it with her. "I didn't call my wife right away because I didn't want to wake her up, but I knew she'd be on board," he explained.
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“I explained that my wife and I had been trying for 10 years to have a baby. I told them we’d completed all of our classes in the state of Florida and were registered to adopt,” he said. "All we needed was a child."
But even after leaving the note, the firefighter feared what would become of it. After telling his wife, who cried upon hearing the news, he shared, “I was like, 'Don’t get too excited yet.' My biggest fear was that the note I wrote wouldn’t stay with Zoey and she’d be gone. It was a very stressful few days.”
When he first heard the alarm, the firefighter thought it was a false one. But in actuality, it was an alarm that changed his life for the better. A couple days after finding her, he and his wife were able to bring her home. They officially adopted baby Zoey in April.
There are a total of 148 Safe Haven Baby Boxes in the United States. The company that makes them was founded by Monica Kelsey. The devices are temperature-controlled and include a bassinet-style bed inside.
On the day of Zoey's discovery, Monica issued a press release. “We want to address the parents who legally surrendered this infant,” she said. "And right now I’m going to talk directly to her or him. Thank you. Thank you for keeping your child safe. Thank you for bringing your child to a place that you knew was going to take care of this child. And thank you for doing what you felt was best.”
The firefighter shared that he is always brought to tears when sharing the story. “The way I found her … This was God helping us out."
In sharing the story, Zoey's adoptive parents hope that the biological mother is able to get some closure. “We want her to know that her child is taken care of and that she’s loved beyond words."
