Police Officer Helped Black Mom Find Son’s Grave Four Years After He Died [An Inspiring Story]

On Tuesday, Fortunate Higgins told Humans of New York that she finally found her son's grave four years after his death. A police officer helped her by purchasing a headstone for her six-month-old baby boy, Elijah.

In 2015, Higgins was taking graduate classes and a class that focuses on grief. A Poughkeepsie Journal reporter, who was working with the police officer who helped raise funds to buy a headstone for Elijah, called her. Higgins said that she had been looking for her baby's grave because she did not know where it was.

(Photo: Instagram/humansofny)

Black mom saw a miracle

In 2015, Higgins and Lieutenant Jim Janso, the police officer met, and the black mom was relieved to find her son's grave finally. She called the police officer her hero because he had helped lift all the weight that she has been carrying. She looks at it as a miracle and does not know the right words to say.

Police officer explained the autopsy report

A few days after Elijah died, Higgins visited the police department. Janso helped her understand her child's autopsy report. He informed her that her baby had died due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The police officer felt personally connected with the black woman's family because he performed CPR on Elijah to try to save him. Janso had been visiting Elijah's grave over the years.

 

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Son was buried in an unmarked grave

Higgins felt comforted and grateful for Janso. Even though the mom's grief was all-consuming, the police officer showed kindness and thoughtfulness. The strange funeral customs of the US has made her confused. The black mom was worried that she could not afford a headstone for her Elijah's burial site. She buried her child in an unmarked grave.

The 38-year-old mom thought that keeping a photo of her child would help her find her son's grave. However, every time she tries to find it, she would get lost. She was crying and praying so much all the time.

Initially from Uganda, Higgins felt alone and devastated when her baby died. The black mom had no families nearby to support herself and her firstborn, Ethan, 3. The African community and her friends from work arranged a funeral for her son. Even so, she felt unsure about what was happening.

How Elijah died

On March 31, 2011, Higgins received a text message from Elijah's babysitter at one in the morning. It alerted her that something was wrong with her six-month-old son. The black mom immediately left her night shift job to bring her child to the hospital.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities' care manager, Higgins, told TODAY Parents that she thought Elijah was just sick. She packed her diaper bag and everything she needed without any idea that her son had died. The doctors and paramedics did CPR and treatments, but they could not save the baby.

Higgins said that she was in a state of confusion; she thought that she would still see her son alive. The doctor walked in and told her that her son's heart stopped beating.

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