“Phonebox baby,” abandoned 22 years ago, reunites with the “hero” who rescued her

Kiran Sheikh was reunited with Joe Campbell
at Metro’s offices (Picture: National)

By Dave Andrusko

National Right to Life

Kiran Sheikh was reunited with Joe Campbell at Metro’s offices (Picture: National)

A very sweet story in local paper in London, England, one that started out near disastrously and ended beautifully. Here’s the lead, written by Nicole Le Marie, forMetro:

A woman dumped in a phone box as a baby has been reunited with the stranger who rescued her 22 years ago – after he read about her in Metro.

Kiran Sheikh’s mother, trapped in an abusive relationship, abandoned her daughter in a phone booth (the British call them phoneboxes) when Kiran was only two hours old.

But she “then called the Samaritans, urging them to come quickly for the baby.”

As fate would have it, the then-30-year-old Joe Campbell found the baby first. He “called police after seeing what he first thought was ‘a bag of chips,’” Le Marie wrote.

Joe pictured shortly after he found Kiran (Picture: National)

For the first five years, Campbell kept in touch before the social services asked him to cut ties.

‘I was allowed a picture with her, which I kept,’ added Mr. Campbell, who said he asked about adopting the baby himself, but was turned down as he was not married.

But he never forgot her and later often spoke to his own five children – aged from seven to 17 – about their ‘adopted sister’.

Read how Kiran and Joe were finally reunited