Firefighter on infant he adopted after call: 'She’s part of our family'

By FireRescue1 Staff

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Five years after adopting a newborn he delivered on an emergency call, firefighter Marc Hadden reflected on that fateful encounter.

It's been five years since Hadden and his wife adopted their daughter Rebecca Grace. Hadden reflected on his daughter’s adoption on Today this week. 

Hadden responded to a call of a woman going into labor Nov. 14, 2011; he and his colleagues delivered Gracie in the back of an ambulance.

"It was a pretty serious call for us," Hadden told Today. "We got her on some oxygen, started some IVs and literally as we were getting ready to leave the parking lot in the ambulance, my partner said, 'We're about to deliver a baby right here,’” he said. “Before we could do anything — we hadn't even cut her clothes — Gracie came right out. Immediately she was handed to me."

Firefighters transported the woman to the hospital, and a day later, Hadden learned the infant had been put up for adoption. He and his wife, who wanted a third child, decided to adopt her, who goes by her middle name, Gracie. They were granted full custody March 2012. 

Since then, Gracie has seamlessly become part of the family. Hadden said that he and his wife are still surprised by Gracie’s story, but “wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

"She's amazing," Hadden said. "She takes gymnastics, she's getting ready to start kindergarten next year at the school where my wife teaches. She's a pretty remarkable kid."

Hadden said Gracie, now five, knows her birth story. 

“She knows the whole story. I wanted her to know as soon as she was old enough to understand. I didn't want it to be this huge surprise. It still breaks my heart to think of one day having to explain it to her more in depth ... because she doesn't really 100 percent get it," Hadden said.