A New Mexico police officer has given some hope to a homeless mother’s addicted newborn.
Albuquerque officer Ryan Holets adopted a baby girl born to a woman who has battled drug addiction since she was a teenager, CNN reported.
Holets was responding to a possible theft at a convenience store on Sept. 23, CNN reported. As he was leaving, Holets said he noticed a couple sitting outside against a cement wall, allegedly shooting up heroin. He turned on his body camera and confronted the couple, and then he noticed the woman was pregnant.
“It's not every day I see a sight like that and it just made me really sad,” Holets told CNN.
Crystal Champ, 35, told Holets that she was eight months pregnant.
“You're going to kill your baby,” Holets tells Champ. “Why you have to be doing that stuff? It's going to ruin your baby.”
Champ said she has been homeless for more than two years. She has been battling heroin and crystal meth addiction, spending more than $50 a day on the drugs. Attempts to kick the drug habit had failed, CNN reported.
“I did give up. I just decided this was going to be my life,” Champ told CNN. “It just keeps coming back and ruining my life.”
Holets decided not to charge the couple with drug possession, CNN reported. When Champ told the officer that she hoped someone would adopt her baby, Holets showed her a picture of his wife and children, including a 10-month-old infant. He then offered to adopt the baby, CNN reported.
“He became a human being instead of a police officer,” Champ said.
“I was led by God to take the chance,” Ryan said. “God brought us all together. I really don't have any other way to explain it.”
Holets’ wife Rebecca was on board with the decision, CNN reported.
On Oct. 12, Champ gave birth to a baby girl and the Holets named her Hope. The infant was addicted to opiates, CNN reported.
The Holets said Hope suffered through detoxing and withdrawals and had methadone treatment, CNN reported. But the infant is out of the hospital and doing better.
Champ continues to battle addiction and is still homeless. Ironically, Champ also was adopted as a newborn, CNN reported.
Hope “needs to have a safe environment and a stable life and be able to grow and be nurtured and be safe and secure and all of these things I can't give her right now," Champ told CNN. “There needs to be more people like Ryan and his wife and their family in this world.”
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