This baby was left for dead in a dumpster. But 20 years later, something incredible happened. Morgan Hill always knew that she was adopted, but it wasn’t until she turned 18 that she learned she had once made headlines as Mary Grace. A tiny baby who was abandoned ended in a Chicago dumpster. So after hearing the full horrifying story, Hill went on a two year search for the construction worker who had saved her life.
Morgan Hill’s mom and dad had never made any secret of the fact that they were not her biological parents for her whole life. In fact, they made sure she knew she was adopted. But it wasn’t until 2014 that Hill would learn her full heartbreaking backstory.
Unbeknownst to her almost 21 years ago, she was the cause of a major news story in Chicago. Headlines from October 1995 told the story of an infant who had been cruelly abandoned in a dumpster by her mother. Fortunately, a worker on the site had been dropping off some trash when his attention was caught by a whimpering noise from within the dumpster. It was then that he made his miraculous discovery. Later, speaking to WMAQ, Hill said he was dropping off the last load of trash from the construction area he was working on.
Before he dropped it in, he heard a whimper. He found a white kitchen bag that was double knotted. Shockingly, Hill was inside that bag. So although Hill always knew that she’d been put into care, no one had mentioned her heartbreaking true story before. And yet, as soon as she learned of her tragic delivery into the world, she began a desperate search for the man whom she now refers to as her Guardian Angel.
Fortunately, the man who found Hill took her to a local hospital and it was there that she was given the initial name of Mary Grace. But after hitting the headlines, the baby was soon adopted by Sandy Hill and given a new name, Morgan. In a generous Act, Morgan’s adoptive mom kept hold of all the newspaper clippings concerning Morgan. Still, nothing could have prepared Morgan for the reality of her sad start. So when it was time for her mum to tell her, as Hill told KSHP, she could barely get it out.
She was basically already crying before telling me, Hill continued. I honestly didn’t know what to think when she was telling me. She had the binder of articles and just had me read through all of them one by one. Hill read through newspaper clippings, each one revealing the horrifying details of her 1st 24 hours. So she read how a man named Gerald Rocky Hyatt had been working on a nearby construction site and that when he’d taken a load of trash to the dumpster, he’d heard a whimper hearing the noise again.
Moreover, he spotted a twitching trash bag that he panicked and ran to the nearest hospital next. Haya quickly returned with three nurses and one nurse. Carol Shafranski tore the bag open and found two tiny blue eyes staring back at her. So it was. The otherwise healthy child was named Mary Grace by the nurses before being adopted by Sandy Hill and her husband, Tracy.
Authorities, Meanwhile, eventually traced Hill’s birth mother. Strangely, she’d hidden the fact that she was pregnant and, after a home delivery, had appallingly tried to dispose of the child before anyone found out about it. In fact, it’s believed the father hadn’t known about the baby until he was named in court. Hill’s biological mother was later indicted for attempted first degree murderous. Police believe she’d deliberately left the baby in the dumpster to die.
All Hill knew of the woman who had given birth to her in the first few hours of her life had come from those vintage newspaper clippings. But there was one more thing that Hill was aware of. She knew that she wanted to meet the man who’d found and saved her. She wanted to thank the man in person. After all, she wouldn’t have had the beautiful life she knows today without him.
Therefore, Hill looked for him, albeit without success, for two years. Unbeknown to Hill, however, a journalist she had been speaking with vowed to do whatever she could to help find Gerald Rocky Hyatt. The journalist Furthermore, tracked the man down in Kentucky, and she discovered that he’d always wondered what had become of the baby girl he found in the trash. And so the journalist set up a surprise for Hill while being interviewed about the story of her life. She asked Hill for the name of her hero, and as Hill said, Gerald Rocky Hyatt.
The journalist replied, he just walked in your house. Hill then turned around and immediately the tears began to fall. The bear hugged in Hill and floods of tears simply said, thank you so much. Hyatt replied, It’s been a privilege. You’ve been a blessing.
Hill then got to hear her story for the first time from someone who was actually there. In fact, Hyatt recalled it as if it happened yesterday. What’s more, it became apparent just how close a call it had been for Hill that day. Hyatt revealed that as he dropped off the last of the construction trash that was due for morning collection, he was unsure whether the noise was made by a baby or a cat. It was only when he decided to take a closer look that he found Hill all wrapped up.
At the time, Hill was given a gold pin of an angel to Mark his act of heroism. However, at the meeting, after having kept hold of the item for 20 years, he presented it to Hill and it’s a pin Hill later said that she often proudly wears. Perhaps to have her Guardian Angel watching over her all the time. I couldn’t thank him enough. Hill told NBC Chicago he gave me a chance to live a second life because if he didn’t find me, I wouldn’t be here to help others.