Man Who Saved Baby Reunites With Child 5 Decades Later

Dave Hickman was just 14 years old when he went hunting with his grandfather on a day that would change his life forever.

Dave heard a strange noise and went to investigate.

“I got on top of the fence, I looked down, and there was a little baby. She was soaking wet. Her lips were blue. She was just wrapped in a towel. My grandfather said, ‘We have to do something real quick, we have to get help for the baby,’” he recalled to CBS.

The pair rushed the girl to the authorities, and she survived.

But Dave was left heartbroken after she was adopted just a few weeks later, and he had no way of staying in touch.

“They handed her to me and they said, ‘She’s being adopted next week.’ They had her wrapped in a blanket. She was sound asleep. So I got to say goodbye to her,” he said.

When he got a little older, Dave set out to find the girl, but he had no success. His friends and family knew about his quest but it still was a failure for 58 years. That’s when retired sheriff John Catey called him.

“He said, ‘Dave write down this name and this phone number — Mary Ellen Suey and her phone number.’ I said, ‘OK John, I said who’s that?’ (He said) ‘That’s your little girl,’ ” Dave recalls.

Dave and Mary’s beautiful reunion is the highlight of the video.