Last May, a newborn infant was discovered in the bed of a Nissan pickup truck in the parking lot of a student apartment complex in Tallahassee, Florida. Doctors estimate he was five to seven days old then because his umbilical cord had fallen off, but they didn’t know anything else about him. A checkup at the hospital showed he was fine, just cold, wet, and hungry.
Supervising respiratory therapist Lorraine Nichols was working that morning and when that baby came in, her life was changed forever. Nichols tried in-vitro but was unable to have children of her own and she and her husband were in the process of trying to adopt, and she fell in love with this baby.
Nichols called the Florida Department of Children and Families and they empowered her to make decisions for the infant. Four days later, Baby Charlie went home with her and on September 7, his adoption was finalized, making his mom’s dream come true. Parenting an infant has its challenges, but Lorraine says, “It’s just been amazing.”
Source: USA Today