Police Officer Rescues Abandoned Baby, Reunited 25 Years Later
In 1989, Santa Ana police officer Michael Buelna found a small baby behind a garbage dumpster. Seeing how malnourished and frail the infant was, the cop rushed the infant to nearby paramedics, saving its life. Now, that baby is a grown man, and he found the officer to say thanks.
According to ABC 7, the police officer was responding to a stabbing call when heard something in the trash near a dumpster. He described it as a “very low meow, like a cat or something.”
He moved some of the trash and found the baby.
“I noticed the umbilical cord and he was covered, he still had all the mucus and stuff and all the trash and gravel was sticking to him. I tried to give him a tiny little bit of breath and he reacted a little bit.”
The Orange County Register reports the baby was about four pounds. Officer Buelna named him Adam, but the name didn’t stick.
Baby was adopted, and his new parents named him Robin Barton.
Michael Buelna continued on in the force for many years before retiring. CBS News reports he always wondered what happened to the infant he knew as Baby Adam.
Now 25-years-old, Barton tracked down officer Buelna with his adoptive parents for an emotional reunion.
Robin reportedly said, “Nice. Wonderful to finally have met you, to see the man who found me first.”
It turns out the two shared an uncommon bond. Buelna was also abandoned as a child.
Robin’s father Daniel Fernandez expressed his gratitude too.
“I had the opportunity to shake his hand and look in his eyes and say, ‘Thank you for saving his life.'”
ICYMI: Retired Santa Ana police officer reunited with man he rescued 25 years ago http://t.co/tJH5SkUL9G pic.twitter.com/BxgxpLT3RK
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) April 26, 2015
Barton wants to find his biological mother as well, despite her abandoning him as a baby so many years ago.
Police did eventually find the mother, 19-year-old Sabrina Fabiola Diaz. She was subsequently arrested for child endangerment and attempted murder and sentenced to three years in prison. She was later deported.
Barton says he’s been searching for the woman for about 20 years.
“I’m not angry or upset with her, and I forgive her because she was a young woman in a very compromising position.”
Officer Buelna says he’ll now join in that search. As a former police officer, he has more resources to help hunt down Sabrina.
The police officer probably never realized that when he saved Baby Adam, he’d be able to help again 25 years later.
[Image Credit: Getty Images]
