When This Fire Fighter Saved A Woman's Life, He Never Expected This to Happen

Marc Haden was a known firefighter in his community in Myrtle Beach, the heart of South Carolina. Contrary to popular belief, firefighters actually do much more than merely putting fires down. Firefighters help our communities stay safe and genuinely save lives in all kinds of situations. November 14, 2011, was Marc’s turn. He loved his job enormously, but he wasn’t ready for the situation he was about to be put in, which would later become the height of his career and personal life.

Working As A Firefighter

In retrospect, Marc had always found his job to be very rewarding. He was part of a team of passionate firefighters, eager to protect their communities from any dangerous situation that they could fight against. Amongst other things, that included putting fires down, helping someone who had gotten stuck, saving a cat or a dog.

Myrtle Beach was a calm place, so no major things happened throughout the day. But the adventures that the fire department was put through would always make him feel like he was making a difference in the world.

His Dream Job

For Marc, working as a firefighter had been his dream since he was a young boy. He felt that saving lives was his purpose, and he had done everything in his power until he achieved that goal. He enjoyed a life of adventures, where every day looked completely different.

Working in the fire department meant that he had no idea what the next day would look like, and he really enjoyed that. On November 14th, 2011, Marc was ready for another day of work. He didn’t think much of it, as it was supposed to be ‘just another day in the office’.

Not A Regular Day

That day he woke up and did his morning routine. Brushed his teeth, took a shower, had breakfast with his family of four, and headed down to the fire department. As it seemed, it was a pretty quiet morning. Yet, that didn’t last for very long. All of a sudden, Marc and his colleagues heard an emergency call, and in just a couple of minutes were ready to go.

Marc recalls feeling confused with how quickly things changed for him. As firefighters, they were ready for sudden emergency situations that require them to act quickly, but something about that particular emergency felt different.

A Woman In Need

When they picked up the call, all they could hear was a desperate woman screaming from the other side of the line, doing her best to explain that she was under excruciating pain in her abdomen. She could barely talk at that point because of the pain she was experiencing, so Marc and his team drove as fast they could to the scene in order to see how they could help.

While in a situation like this, it seemed like the woman needed the help of a paramedic, since she had called the fire department, everyone was required to help.

Labor Pain

Especially in a situation like this, duty was more important than trying to figure out who, from which department should be at the scene. Once the team got to the scene, they understood right away why the woman was experiencing so much pain. Marc had thought that maybe it was some sort of appendicitis, which was often really painful, or something like a bowel obstruction.

But it wasn’t. The woman was expecting, and she was actually experiencing labor pain. She hadn’t realized that she was having contractions and that they were increasing by the minute, thus making her feel that amount of pain.

Assessing The Situation

The firefighters assessed the situation to the best of their ability and tried to understand how much time they had. The contractions seemed to be fairly close together, and by the woman’s reactions, she could give birth at any second.

Even though no one said it out loud, they all understood very quickly that the baby wasn’t going to wait much longer to come out, the baby was ready, and so the rest of the world would have to be too.

A Hard Task

Unanimously, the firefighters made the tough decision of not taking the woman to the hospital and prepared themselves for what would be one of the hardest tasks of their lives. Quickly, the team attempted to make the woman as comfortable as she could be.

They gave her some oxygen and started some IV’s just to make sure that she was safe. They then decided to transport her to the ambulance, so that she would be in a clean and sanitized place.

All Up To Nature

The environment was of tension, as none of the men had experienced a situation like this, and they had no physician or paramedic on the site, it was just them. In truth, delivering a baby naturally often depends much more on nature than on people themselves.

Even though nowadays the process has become much more dependent on hospitals, most deliveries only need an eager baby, a sanitized environment, and a knowledgeable person to guide the process.

Far Away From The Hospital

Other than that, most natural deliveries require much more moral support than any medical procedure. What is important though is that the person delivering it is trained and ready to do the task. It can be extremely stressful for the woman to deliver her baby when she knows that the people around her are not prepared.

And in this situation, she was not only in the presence of people who didn’t necessarily have the experience to deliver her baby, but she was also far away from any hospital.

Hoping For The Best

The firefighters were ready though, and saving the woman and her baby was a priority at that moment. Everything was happening really fast, they cut her clothes and in a matter of minutes, the baby had slipped out, ready to take over the world. Marc held the baby in his arms, and couldn’t believe what had just happened.

At that moment, all they could do was hope that both mother and daughter were safe and healthy, hoping for no complications.

Desperate Times

But unfortunately, things weren’t looking good. As Marc held the baby in his arms, he could see that she wasn’t breathing. He quickly decided to give her oxygen, hoping that would help. But nothing was happening. He felt a sense of loss and desperation he had never felt before.

But just before he lost all hope, the tiny baby started crying. At that moment, everyone felt relieved. Hearing the baby cry was the first step to knowing that she would actually be fine.

Everything Under Control

When both mother and daughter were stable and the firefighters felt like the situation was under control, they finally took them to the hospital. They were both admitted and were finally under the care of doctors and nurses that would make sure everything was okay.

When she was finally awake, the woman expressed her anxiety to the hospital staff. She was a single mother of a teenage boy and wasn’t sure about how she would care for another child.

Putting The Baby Up For Adoption

She was really struggling to raise her son, although she was doing the best she could. She had already made her decision, and she wasn’t able to care for the baby that had just been born.

It wasn’t at all an easy decision for her, but as a mother, she had to make the best decision for her baby. So she made it clear to the hospital staff that she was going to put the baby up for adoption. When Marc heard the news, he had to call his wife right away.

A Broken Heart

After what he had gone through, the thought of this tiny baby having to go through the process of adoption broke his heart. He was a father of two boys, and he was terrified that the little girl wouldn’t find a home, and would be put under a difficult life of fostering parents and high hopes that someone would want her as their daughter.

Deep inside he thought that it was meant to be. For years, he and his wife had been hoping to have a baby girl.

Can We Keep Her?

So Marc couldn’t help himself from thinking that maybe that innocent baby girl was an answer to their prayers. When his wife, Beth picked up, Marc told his wife everything. He shared how he had just delivered a baby girl under impossible circumstances.

He talked fast and was extremely excited and still a little bit shocked. After hearing about what happened, and that the baby was up for adoption, Beth jokingly said: ‘can we keep her?’.

Going To The Hospital

Although they both thought they were joking, they decided to listen to their instinct to think things through. Beth decided to go all the way to the hospital to meet Marc and the baby.

After all, this could be the moment they had been waiting for, and that baby girl could be the daughter they had been hoping to have for so many years. So Marc explained to her where he was, and waited for her to arrive.

Waiting For The Right Moment

On the way, Beth thought about how much she wanted this to be true. Ever since Marc and her had their two boys, they both agreed that they wanted to have more children. But unfortunately, Beth had been told that she could no longer deliver another baby, as she was preterm with both of them.

The couple considered adopting a baby girl for years, but going through the process of adoption wasn’t an easy decision to make, so they both decided to wait for the right time.

Meeting The Woman

When Beth arrived at the hospital, she had a prayer book in her hands. As a family of faith, she felt that was the right thing to do. She hadn’t had much time to let things sink through, but she was ready to meet the woman and the newborn baby.

Beth met the woman and felt a lot of empathy towards her situation. Soon after, the doctor announced that everything was ready to put the baby up for adoption.

Choosing A Family

As the woman had the process explained to her, her heart sank. She realized that it would be extremely hard for her to give her baby to a stranger. So in a matter of seconds, she looked Beth straight in the eye and asked her to adopt her baby.

She told her that she wouldn’t be able to give her baby up to a stranger and that Marc and Beth had to be her parents. She then asked the doctor to bring the baby, so that Beth could meet her and hopefully hold her in her arms.

Signing The Adoption Papers

Beth fell completely in love with the baby. They clicked right away, and she made the decision easier. Marc and Beth decided that the tiny baby girl was, in fact, going to be their baby. The couple signed the adoption papers and had the biological mother’s blessing.

They named her Rebecca Grace and shortly became known as Gracie by all of her close relatives. The story quickly became known to their neighborhood and community, and everyone was very supportive and accommodating of the new family member.

A Whole Village

Eventually, the story went viral. At that point, the whole community, including Hadden’s contractor was willing to help the family adjust to their new family member. They decided to collectively help Marc and Beth add one more bedroom to their house, by adding an extension to the three-bedroom house.

Marc and Beth were extremely grateful for everyone’s willingness to help and were ecstatic about the new phase in their lives. The expression ‘it takes a whole village’ seemed to fall perfectly into this situation.

Explaining The Truth

Shortly after, Marc was awarded a Firefighter of the Year Award by the Myrtle Beach Fire Department and was commended for his amazing work and heart. Even though Marc appreciated the award greatly, his biggest award was Gracie. She quickly became the center of the family of five.

But even though Marc and Beth saw Gracie as their own, they knew that with all of the attention the story had gotten, they would have to explain to Gracie where she had come from. And that’s exactly what they did.

A Happy Family

They explained to her that even though she wasn’t their biological daughter, she was theirs. Today, Gracie is a happy 6-year-old, with a family who loves her to the moon and back. Eventually, Marc decided to retire from his job in order to dedicate himself to the family.

He still works with the fire department on a volunteer basis. March and Beth describe how Gracie has changed their lives, and how she has perfectly become an essential member of their family. Her brothers love her and protect her, and have welcomed her as their own little sister.