Twist of fate reunites police officer with the man he saved as a baby in a heartwarming moment
Every comic book fan and movie buff remembers the scene from "The Dark Knight Rises" where Batman reminds Commisioner Gordon how he supported him as a child. While real life stories don't end with survivors becoming superheroes, there are few things as satisfying for police officers as seeing the children they saved grow up into upstanding citizens. Police lieutenant Gene Eyster experienced this joy after an unexpected encounter with someone he saved as a baby, as reported by TODAY. As an infant, the person was abandoned by his parents and was lying in a cardboard box on a South Bend, Indiana apartment building hallway. Some college students contacted the authorities after stumbling upon the box. Eyster responded to the call and was immediately on his way to collect the baby. Just when he was going to leave the child in the care of a hospital, Eyster felt a certain affection for him and brought a Teddy Bear as a gift for the boy. The duo parted ways in the hospital only to run into each other Years later.
The lieutenant wanted the baby abandoned by his parents to feel some sort of affection and chose to provide that with a teddy bear. “I just wanted him to know he was cared about,” Eyster said. He named the boy, "Baby Jesus" as the name Baby Boy Doe didn’t sit right with him. It felt too harsh for a newborn boy. “He was born a couple of days before Christmas and placed in a box — and in my mind that box was a manger,” Eyster explained. “So he became Baby Jesus.”
Even after leaving the baby boy in the custody of the hospital, he always kept a check on him. After hearing that he had been adopted by a good family, the officer breathed a sigh of relief. “I wondered ‘What did he turn out to be?’ And God forbid, have I ever arrested him? Was he still alive?’ Eyster reminisces. Life went on, in 2019, he retired and in January 2024, he was struck by a tragedy when his only son lost the battle of life. In April, through a twist of fate, he encountered the long-lost baby boy who joined his colleagues's team as an officer. Baby Jesus had become Matthew Hegedus-Stewart and had built a good life for himself.
Officer Josh Morgan and Stewart went to the Park Jefferson Apartments — the same building where the latter was abandoned as a baby for a case. During a conversation, Stewart shared a detail with Morgan. “I was like, ‘I was abandoned as a baby here,’” Hegedus-Stewart, a police officer, told TODAY.com. “Then Morgan looked up the report and saw Gene Eyster’s name attached to it.” Morgan immediately contacted Eyster and made the reunion possible. For Eyster, it was an emotional experience as he could find many similarities between Matt and his son. “I see some mannerisms in Matt that remind me of my son — he’s got the same grin, the same laugh, the same dark hair and stature,” Eyster added.
Eyster was ecstatic that his "Baby Jesus" was able to make something of himself. Stewart spent a lot of years harboring disappointment towards his mother, but later on was able to put it to rest. He is very close to his adoptive parent and believes he "lucked out" with the way things panned out. “The irony of everything falling into place the way it did,” Eyster says. “You have a better chance of winning the lottery.” The man is now gearing up to welcome his own baby with his fiance.