Marc Hadden, a firefighter from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had no idea that his life would be forever changed when he responded to an emergency call. Marc is a father of two boys and a loving husband to his wife, Beth. They had always wanted more children, but due to Beth’s previous pregnancies, doctors had warned them against it.
“My wife was basically told to wrap it up, you know, that any further pregnancies could cause more complications for her and for, you know, the potential baby,” Marc told Inside Edition.
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The couple had looked into adoption, but the cost of the process was too high, and their salaries as a firefighter and teacher made it almost impossible for them to afford it. Despite this, they put their faith in God and continued with their day-to-day lives.
It wasn’t until Marc responded to a call during work that everything changed. He believed it would be a routine call, but it turned out to be the call that changed his life forever.
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Upon arriving at the scene, he discovered a woman experiencing severe stomach pains. It became evident that the woman was pregnant and was going into labor. The woman was not going to make it to the hospital, and for the first time in his career, Marc took the lead delivering a baby.
As fate would have it, the baby was a beautiful little girl.
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“I was tasked with everything to do with Gracie… I helped her take her first breath,” Marc told CBS News.
Marc and his partner transported the woman and the newborn baby straight to the hospital. While there, Marc overheard a nurse mentioning that the baby needed to be put up for “immediate adoption” as per the mom’s wishes.
In a moment of spontaneity, Marc jokingly said, “Throw my name in the hat if this baby’s being put up for adoption.”
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Surprisingly, the nurses encouraged Marc to speak with the mother seriously if he and his wife were truly interested in adopting the baby. Marc took the advice and spoke to the mother about his family’s desire to adopt, and how they wanted more children but could not have any more of their own.
He then went to the nursery and snapped up some photos of the newborn baby girl. Marc sent the pictures to his wife, who joked about wanting to keep her.
Luckily, the joke didn’t last long. A few days later, Marc and Beth were able to bring their newly adopted baby daughter, Rebecca Grace Hadden, affectionately known as Gracie, home.
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The family was unprepared for a newborn, but their community rallied around them, providing all the baby supplies they would need and then some. Marc even joked that he couldn’t open his front door fully due to the overflowing baby supplies from their community.
Now, five years later, Gracie and her hero daddy are doing well, and Marc admits that she has him wrapped around her finger. The emergency call that Marc thought was going to be just another typical day turned out to be one that he and his family will never forget.
As Marc put it, “Sometimes you wake up in the morning thinking it’s going to be just a typical day. However, little do you know – it’s going to be one that you’ll never forget.”