Village of Life issued the following on Jan. 3
Special reunion: Young firefighter meets fellow hero who delivered him
Jesse Williams and Mark Brunton had met before … not that Williams would remember it.
Twenty-seven years ago Brunton and five fellow Cameron Park firefighters walked into Williams’ parent’s home just in time for Brunton to catch a brand-new baby boy. He would be named Jesse and later become a Cameron Park Fire Department intern, working at the very station where his birth-story heroes were assigned.
In December Williams shared stories and smiles with Brunton — a meeting both of them will remember this time.
Williams’ mother Kim Hart shared the Valentine’s Day birth story with the media during the gathering, explaining that she and her then husband Dick decided their sixth baby would be born in the comfort of their Cameron Park home with the help of a midwife. But babies don’t often follow parents’ schedules … and Jesse was no different. He decided he was ready to meet the world before the midwife was able to get there.
Hart said she remained calm; after all, this wasn’t her first rodeo. She said she didn’t want Dick to call the paramedics but he wasn’t comfortable with not having the midwife there.
“Six giant firemen came through the door,” she said, reminiscing, adding that they weren’t really giant but at that moment it seemed like it. One of the firefighters, 23-year-old Brunton, arrived just in time to “catch him.”
Brunton had only been on the job for three months. Although he had delivered two other babies in his short tenure, he acknowledged, “Nothing had been this imminent.” He said he remembers that day as being “nerve-wracking and scary,” especially since delivering babies isn’t something firefighters are often called to do. “I was hoping my training would kick in.”
Humorously, Brunton added, “I didn’t really do a lot that day.” Hart, he noted, had the harder job.
Hart recalled wondering to herself back then if her new little boy would grow up to be a firefighter. The answer, it appears, is a big yes. Williams works as an intern at Station 89. After he shared his story with a coworker, a call was made to Brunton, who is currently the Cal Fire battalion chief in Garden Valley, and a meet and greet was set up for the two men to meet for the first time since that fateful day.
Brunton described the meeting as “surreal” while Williams said it was “interesting.” They both acknowledged it was “pretty cool” to meet one another after all these years. The two caught up for the media and Hart brought the Mountain Democrat newspaper article that covered their story back then.
For her part, Hart let Brunton know how much she appreciated all he and the other firefighters did that day.
“I wasn’t exactly overjoyed,” she said, recalling how she felt when they all arrived in her home. “But they were so sweet and returned later that same day to check in with us. They even told me it was a nice start to their day.”
Original source can be found here
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