Just a few hours after he was born, Matthew was abandoned.
But he wasn’t left with a stranger or put up for adoption — he was buried alive.
Two decades ago, someone dug a a makeshift grave on a hiking trail in Altadena, California. The purpose? To bury an innocent baby.
The unidentified person dumped the child in a small hole and covered it with earth and stones.
In 1998, Azita Milanian was out jogging with her dogs along that same trail, shortly after Matthew was left to die.
One of her dogs got a whiff of something and began to sniff along the ground.
When Azita approached the area her dog led her to, she thought she might find a small animal. But as she looked closer, she shook in shock.
Azita couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw two little feet rising above the ground.
She immediately began to dig into the ground to free the child. She had no idea if it was even alive.
“I just screamed. It was wrapped in a blue towel, and there was a baby in there,” says Azita.
Because she had no reception on her cell phone, she wasn’t able to call 911. All that panicked Azita could do was run to the nearest road and frantically wave down a vehicle.
A driver stopped and quickly drove them to the nearest police station. There, Azita remained with Matthew and gently washed and comforted him.
It turns out that all we need sometimes is a human touch.
“He grabbed my wrist and stopped crying. It was very emotional,” recalls Azita.
At the same time, Azita simply couldn’t understand what kind of sick person could do something like this. The tiny baby still had his umbilical cord hanging from his belly.
Thankfully, help arrived quickly and after receiving much needed medical care, Matthew survived.
This little warrior was eventually adopted by a wonderful family, and his biological mother was never found and arrested.
Until he became an adult, Matthew never knew about his difficult start in life. But one day, he and his godmother were driving around together when she asked if someone had told him the truth.
“She told me the whole story and I couldn’t believe it. Then I went home and studied a little. I told everyone and felt quite cool that survived the impossible,” says Matthew.
Matthew also decided to look for his rescuing angel and thank her personally for what she had done. She could have ignored her dog and continued to jog — but she did not, and that had saved his life.
20 years later…
Even though Azita herself tried to find out what happened to Matthew, it was difficult. When he was adopted, she discovered she had no way to contact his family.
She was saddened but sought comfort in the fact that somewhere, there was a family who loved him and would do everything for him.
It was finally celebrity Ryan Seacrest who helped Matthew meet Azita. He invited them both to his studio and filmed their meeting.
Azita said she had been waiting to meet him for 20 years.
“You’re exactly what I’ve imagined. I guessed right on your size, everything. Thank you for coming into my life, you changed it. I knew we would meet again. The day I met him, he confirmed my faith. God brought us together for a greater purpose.”
The two plan to stay in touch. Watch their beautiful and emotional reunion in the video below:
What an incredible story — thankfully, it ended happily thanks to a guardian angel beyond ordinary.
Like and share if you were also thrilled to see this emotional reunion!
