Girl abandoned in cemetery 18 years ago reunites with rescuer

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (KABC) -- It was an emotional reunion between an Illinois firefighter and the newborn infant he rescued 18 years ago.

"My birth mother abandoned me and I was left in the cemetery. That night, there was a call put out to the dispatchers," said Skyler James.

Rescuers couldn't find the baby. But, on a hunch, firefighter Charlie Heflin searched a different cemetery. He was about to leave, but went back for a second look and found the newborn under a tree, clinging to life in the frigid cold.

A couple adopted her and named her Skyler. After years of searching, her parents finally found Heflin through Facebook and invited him to her high school graduation as a surprise.

"I was talking to someone at my party and my parents came up and said, 'We need you for a second.' They took me over to Charlie, and Charlie introduced himself to me and told me the whole story again," said James. "I was totally shocked. It's something that I've dreamed of since I was a little kid, and it's amazing."

As a graduation present, Heflin gave James newspaper clippings from the rescue and the jacket he was wearing the night he saved her life.