The world can be a very tiny place at times. So when a new intern walked into a Tennessee fire department, ready to start his training, it came as a shock when they learned who the new young man was. And it all began 18 years ago, with a call to a woman’s house.
Leteshia Hall was pregnant and only two days away from her scheduled induction. But her seventh child had different ideas. In active labor, Hall realized that her baby wasn’t going to wait any longer. Her mother called 911 and the Knoxville Fire Department came to her rescue. “I told the firemen, ‘This is baby number seven … and we’re going to have a baby right now,’” Hall said.
One big push and OT was here.”
Kevin Faddis, left, an assistant chief in Knoxville, with Harris this month. Photo by Knoxville Fire Department
The delivery is one Wilbanks remembers, he said, because of Hall. She was “calm, cool and collected,” he said. Wilbanks cut the baby’s umbilical cord, and then the crew “cleared the scene and went back to the firehouse,” he added. “It’s just one of those things.”
“I really appreciated how those firefighters helped me,” Hall said. “But I didn’t expect I’d ever see them again.” OT said he was spending a day watching firefighters train when Faddis asked him about his life and family. “He asked me how many siblings I had, and I told him I had a lot — more than a lot,” OT said. “Then he asked what part of town I lived in, and I told him some of the streets I’d lived on.”
When OT mentioned he’d spent childhood on Hazen street, Faddis smiled, telling him, “I delivered a baby there!.” Then, the two men began figuring out the story. “My mom told me when I was little that I’d been delivered by the fire department. So I knew he was talking about me,” OT said.
Faddis was shocked, he said. “I’d held him in my arms and heard his first cry,” said Faddis, 50. “It was the first time I’d ever helped deliver a baby, and I’ve only delivered one other since. When you get a call like that, you don’t forget.” Hall said that her son video called her during his first day on his internship.
“Mom, do you know this guy? Does he look familiar to you?” her son asked, and then handed his phone to a man wearing a Knoxville Fire Department T-shirt. That man was Kevin Faddis, and he had been a part of the crew that helped deliver OT. “He and OT were smiling and laughing,” Hall said.
And I couldn’t believe what a small world it was.”
Harris tries turning a fire hydrant on and off as Capt. Brad Hammel of the Knoxville Fire Department watches. Photo by Kevin Faddis
The crew has been thrilled to have OT on their team. “I’m assigned to be his mentor, and we’ve had a few conversations back and forth, but I never imagined anything like this,” Wilbanks said. “He’s so charismatic, and I’m thrilled that he’s with us. OT is a very driven kid.”
While OT plans to focus on working in education after he graduates college, he said he is having fun learning about water pressure, working on fire hydrants – and can’t wait until he can go on a few calls with the crew. “Riding on the truck will be fun,” he said. “I honestly can’t see myself doing what these guys do for 24 hours a day, so I’ve earned new respect for what they do. They work really hard to help people.”
“With jobs like ours, you don’t get a lot of time to relish the moment,” Faddis said. “You’re always off to the next call.” “It’s a real treat for us to get to know the young man we helped bring into the world 18 years ago,” he said. Watch below for a look at this amazing connection between the intern and the fire department.
Sources: People | Washington Post
