A Nigerian man has been reunited with a woman he found as a baby in a phone box 22 years ago.
This was made possible following an appeal by The Metro.
Kiran Sheikh, 22, was abandoned by her mum in the middle of the night on April 30, 1994.
Her mum, who already had 6 children, was in a violent relationship and gave birth to Kiran alone on her bathroom floor.
She wrapped her little girl in blankets and ran with her to a nearby phone box on a street corner in Newham, East London.
She then called a charity group and begged them to come quickly before fleeing.
Joe Campbell unaware of what had happened, stepped into the phone box to call home. He then spotted the tiny bundle and rushed Kiran to the hospital before charity workers arrived.
Campbell said he had initially thought the small bundle was a “bag of chips”.
Officers launched an appeal to try and find Kiran’s mum but didn’t find her until 2 years later, when she was hospitalised while giving birth to her 8th child.
By that time, the baby had been adopted by a Pakistani family who called her Kiran.
She was initially named ‘April’ by the hospital Campbell took her to.
She never met her biological parents.
Her mother has been identified as an English woman while her father, a Jamaican and Indian man who is in prison in Canada for attempted murder. He is said to have stabbed another ex-girlfriend 30 times.
52 year-old Campbell explained how he sent gifts and birthday cards during Kiran’s first 5 years before being instructed by social services to cut ties.
“I was allowed a picture with her, which I kept,” added Campbell.
Campbell also revealed he wanted to adopt the infant himself, but was turned down because he was not married.
He said he was alerted about Sheikh’s appeal by a colleague.
“A colleague showed it to me when he saw my name, and was sure it was me. I said ‘no’. Then I saw her photograph and I was overcome, I was so happy,” He said.
Kiran is now a mother to a 2 year-old.
She said, “He says anyone would have done what he did, but they wouldn’t. It’s so amazing to have been reunited with him. He’s my hero. We lived down the road from each other for years, we must have passed each other, I can’t believe we were so close.”
Campbell also now a father of 5 said, “She has a family waiting for her now, my children will love to meet her. I’m so grateful we have been brought together.”
