The Alley
After a stabbing in 1989, officer Michael Buelna had to perform a routine scan in one of the roughest Santa Ana neighborhoods in California. But when some locals indicated an alley, the case took an unexpected turn.
At first, he didn’t notice anything weird, but as he picked up on “a sound of a very low meow, like a cat or something,” he tried to follow the noise to its source. When he found it, between a dumpster and a wall, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
The Baby
Michael was horrified when he saw a wailing infant lying face down on the asphalt. The baby eve had its umbilical cord still. After seeing such a thing, Michael immediately radioed for medical assistance.
Michael was so shocked that he decided to ride in the ambulance with the baby, instead of just handing it to the EMTs. The connection he felt with the newborn was instant.
Unanswered Questions
Even though the baby was suffering from hypothermia, the medical team said he would make a full recovery. All this was possible because Michael acted just in time, but there were still some questions…
Michael was told by a nurse that the baby needed a name. They discussed it and decided he would be named Adam. They thought it was appropriate since the baby popped out of nowhere, like a miracle.
What’s Next For Adam?
Michael spent some time with Adam at the hospital that night, but since he was a police officer, he had to resume his duties very soon. After that happened, what came next for baby Adam?
Authorities weren’t able to locate a family member to raise Adam, even though the baby rescue was publicized by the local news. He ended up getting put up for adoption, like many other abandoned children.
Adam’s New Parents
Adam’s luck turned around when the top candidates among couples looking to adopt, Elizabeth Barton and Daniel Fernandez, decided to take him in as a part of their family. They gave him a new name once they brought him home: Robin Barton.
Elizabeth and Daniel knew that Robin had spent his first hours of existence scared and alone, so they made sure he never felt that way again. It was like a higher power had blessed him with great parents.
Robin’s Childhood
Robin never knew about his extraordinary rescue because his parents, Elizabeth and Daniel, tried to keep his origins a secret, so he could be a normal kid. But he naturally started asking questions as he grew older.
Even though Elizabeth thought the revelation would destroy their family, once Robin reached maturity she decided to tell him his story. She told him about the police officer who saved him and about the adoption.
The Present
Since he was nothing but grateful to Daniel and Elizabeth for taking him in, he didn’t show any anger or resentment, but he did propose something interesting. He wanted to meet that police officer who had saved him.
Michael Buelna served with the Santa Ana police until his 50s when he stepped down. Thoughts of the baby he saved would often come back to him while he enjoyed his retirement. And in 2015, he got a call from a member of his old force.
Michael And Robin
The officer who called him asked him if he remembered Adam, and he did, of course. But he didn’t expect an invitation to see Adam for the first time in 25 years. He couldn’t say no to this.
When they finally came face-to-face, they didn’t know what to say. And that was understandable because there wasn’t actually much that could be said, so they just embraced. Michael then would be the first to say something.
People From The Past
Michael proceeded to explain why he was so happy to have ensured Robin’s survival: it turns out, Michael had been left alone at a young age by his parents, so he couldn’t bear to see another child growing up on his own.
What Robin didn’t know, was that his family was about to get bigger. Because their reunion got huge press coverage, Robin was able to track down some other people. He would later meet his birth father, Marcos Meza.
Robin’s Family
Robin was introduced to Marcos’ daughters. And like that, just within some weeks, that rescued baby now had a lot of family surrounding him. Now, all that Robin was missing was his mother.
Apparently, Robin’s birth mother couldn’t be reached. Sabrina Diaz had spent years in prison for child abandonment, and she was later deported to Mexico. Despite what she did, Robin didn’t see her as a villain. Robin would later understand the gravity of his situation after hearing a story from New Jersey.
Michael Patterson
On Friday, June 1, 2018, trooper Michael Patterson was patrolling a Kingwood Township highway. The 26-year-old officer turned his sirens on when he noticed that a white BMW had its windows tinted beyond the legal limit.
What should have been just a routine traffic stop, an exchange of license and registration, a ticket and a goodbye, turned out to be more when Patterson confronted the man he had pulled over.
Mathew Bailly
Through their conversation, the BMW’s driver, Matthew Bailly, revealed he was a former police officer from Piscataway, a township that was about 40 miles west from Kingswood. When he heard the name Piscataway, something changed in Patterson’s expression.
Apparently, Patterson was born in the central New Jersey township, on October 5, 1991. And when he told this to the retired-officer Bailly, he asked: “What street did you live on?”
Poe Place
Trooper Patterson said “Poe Place”. Officer Bailly had a fond memory of that short, dead-end street. So he leaned to the passenger side window and started to tell the trooper something.
Officer Bailly navigated through Piscataway when was a rookie with just four years of experience. Dispatch then sent him to a house on Poe Place. There, a woman named Karen encountered a desperate situation.
Karen
This was the story: Karen was pregnant with a child due any day soon. She had taken his 10-year-old son Terek to the grocery store, and once in there, she started to suffer critical contractions which caused her unimaginable pain.
When she finished purchasing the groceries, Karen hurried to her home on Poe Place. When she arrived, her husband Bobby carried her inside. Once inside, he called her doctor and 9-1-1, and it was Officer Bailly who responded to the call.
Officer Bailly At Poe Place
The rookie officer had arrived just minutes ago at Poe Place, but with the help of the doctor over the phone, he was able to deliver the baby. He also unwrapped the umbilical cord from around the baby’s neck. That moment would then stick with Officer Bailly forever.
When Bailly finished telling his story to Patterson, the young police officer extended a hand through the passenger-side window, and with a big smile on his face he said: “That was me!”.
What Are The Odds?
Officer Bailly didn’t believe him at first, he thought it was impossible. It was unbelievable that the baby he had delivered was now giving him a citation for tinted windows. But Patterson kept insisting it was all real.
The young trooper said laughing: “I was born at home.” He was born in a Cape Cod-style home, just like the one the retired-officer remembered. What are the odds of such an encounter?
Going Their Separate Ways
The New Jersey Police Facebook page put it like this: >“We’re not sure what the odds are of this happening—maybe they’re close to the odds of a hole-in-one, winning the lottery, or being struck by lightning.”
The least Patterson could do was let Matther Bailly off without a ticket, since, after all, he led him into the world. The two men then called their wives after going their separate ways.
The Wives
What both wives asked was if they had taken some pictures or at least exchanged information, but they hadn’t, they just shook hands. But Patterson realized that because of the traffic stop, he did know Officer Bailly’s address.
And so, Patterson went by his house and left a note, and Bailly responded! He invited him and his wife over to join him and his wife for dinner. Patterson accepted and even brought another guest…
The Guest
He went to Bailly’s house with his mother! And so she was able to reconnect with the man who helped her in such an important moment from her past. And as Officer Bailly put it: >“there were a couple of tears shed perhaps by my wife and his mom.”
This time, Trooper Patterson and Officer Bailly remembered to take some photos and agreed to stay connected. They even decided they would grab some pizza sometime in the future.
A Request
Trooper Patterson still had a request for retired-officer Matthew Bailly. Turns out, Trooper Patterson’s wife Alison was due to give birth in a few weeks.
And so the two new friends joked that maybe Officer Bailly could swing by the house and help them deliver their baby too. Maybe that keeps the family tradition alive, right?