The happy, tearful reunion was 21 years in the making.
Broward Firefighters Chris Florea, Jim Burge and Jennifer Ameerally were on duty at the Deerfield Beach fire station when they saw a young woman out front.
“She said, ‘Take my baby,’ and she cried and walked away,” Burge told Local 10.
For about half the day, they took care of the tiny two-day old infant as their own. They named her Hope.
“We just loved her, for that short time we had her,” Florea said.
The trio, who are still firefighters, always wondered whatever happened to their Hope.
Her adoptive family kept Hope as her middle name.
Gloria Hope, who is now in college, hugged her first caregivers at a gala in Miami.
“My birth mother loved me enough to give me up. The firemen (sic) loved me enough to care for me and take care of me while I was in their custody,” she said through tears.
Firefighters presented her with a fire helmet and other mementos during the tearful reunion.
“There are certain calls that stick with you no matter what, for the rest of your life,” Ameerally said.
