April Paul was found with her umbilical cord still attached in a phone box in 1994, reunited with rescuer Joe Campbell in 2016, calls him her 'guardian angel' 32 years later
A woman who was abandoned inside a phone box as a newborn has forged an extraordinary bond with the stranger who found and saved her more than three decades ago. April Paul , now 32, considers her rescuer Joe Campbell part of her family, even as she comes to terms with the possibility that she may never understand why her birth mother left her.
According to SWNS, April was found in a phone box on April 30, 1994, with her umbilical cord still attached. Joe Campbell, who was 30 at the time, discovered her after initially thinking he had spotted what looked like “a bag of chips”. He alerted the police, setting in motion the events that would eventually lead to April being adopted at the age of three.
A reunion 22 years laterJoe was unable to maintain contact with April while she was growing up after being prevented from contacting her by social services. Despite this, he never forgot the baby he had found that day.
In 2016, when April was 22, she launched an appeal to find the man who had rescued her. Joe recognised the story and came forward, allowing the pair to reconnect after 22 years.
Their reunion has since developed into a relationship that April describes as being like gaining a family all over again.
“Joe is complete family,” she said. “It’s like I was adopted again but in the right way this time around.”
April has also grown close to Joe’s children, whom she now regards as her siblings. The pair see each other nearly every week and regularly stay at each other’s homes.
“He never stopped thinking about me,” April said. “I don’t know what this man is – an angel.”
April accepts she may never know why she was abandoned
April also tried to find her birth mother after reconnecting with Joe. She was able to visit her mother’s home in 2016 and have an initial conversation, but says there has been no contact since.
Although she continues to have questions, April told Talk to the Press that she is beginning to accept that the answers she has wanted throughout her life may never come.
“The truth is I absolutely do still want answers from my mum,” she said. “I think a part of me probably always will.”
“I wish more than anything that I could understand why she left me and have the answers to questions I’ve carried around my whole life.”
But April said the ongoing search has also become painful.
“Realistically, I don’t think I’m ever going to get those answers from her,” she said. “Continuing to search and holding onto the hope that I might eventually get them is actually causing me more hurt.”
Her daughter’s question left her searching for words
April, who works for a bank and lives in West London, said becoming a mother herself has made her childhood experiences particularly poignant.
She recalled a conversation with her daughter, who asked her how she knew how to be a mother despite never having had one herself.
“My daughter said to me the other day, ‘Mum, how do you know how to be a mum when you never had one?’”
April told her daughter that being a mother was simply natural to her.
But when her daughter asked, “Why couldn’t your mum be your mum?”, April could only respond: “I don’t know.”
Joe continues to be there for AprilFor April, Joe is no longer simply the man who discovered her in a phone box. He has become someone she can rely on as family.
“Joe saved my life 32 years ago, but he’s so much more than the man who found me,” she said.
April recently recalled Joe turning up at her home despite having undergone knee surgery just three weeks earlier. His children had planned to visit April for dinner, but Joe arrived himself, despite still limping from the operation.
“I said, ‘what are you doing here?’ Of course he brought me loads of shopping, gifts and perfume,” she said.
According to April, that gesture was typical of Joe.
“He’s the type of man you would call in the middle of the night and he would come straight away,” she said.
April is now fundraising to help Joe retire early, hoping to give something back to the man whose decision to stop and investigate a seemingly abandoned “bag of chips” changed both their lives forever.
According to SWNS, April was found in a phone box on April 30, 1994, with her umbilical cord still attached. Joe Campbell, who was 30 at the time, discovered her after initially thinking he had spotted what looked like “a bag of chips”. He alerted the police, setting in motion the events that would eventually lead to April being adopted at the age of three.
A reunion 22 years laterJoe was unable to maintain contact with April while she was growing up after being prevented from contacting her by social services. Despite this, he never forgot the baby he had found that day.
In 2016, when April was 22, she launched an appeal to find the man who had rescued her. Joe recognised the story and came forward, allowing the pair to reconnect after 22 years.
Their reunion has since developed into a relationship that April describes as being like gaining a family all over again.
“Joe is complete family,” she said. “It’s like I was adopted again but in the right way this time around.”
April has also grown close to Joe’s children, whom she now regards as her siblings. The pair see each other nearly every week and regularly stay at each other’s homes.
“He never stopped thinking about me,” April said. “I don’t know what this man is – an angel.”
April accepts she may never know why she was abandoned
April also tried to find her birth mother after reconnecting with Joe. She was able to visit her mother’s home in 2016 and have an initial conversation, but says there has been no contact since.
Although she continues to have questions, April told Talk to the Press that she is beginning to accept that the answers she has wanted throughout her life may never come.
“The truth is I absolutely do still want answers from my mum,” she said. “I think a part of me probably always will.”
“I wish more than anything that I could understand why she left me and have the answers to questions I’ve carried around my whole life.”
But April said the ongoing search has also become painful.
“Realistically, I don’t think I’m ever going to get those answers from her,” she said. “Continuing to search and holding onto the hope that I might eventually get them is actually causing me more hurt.”
Her daughter’s question left her searching for words
April, who works for a bank and lives in West London, said becoming a mother herself has made her childhood experiences particularly poignant.
She recalled a conversation with her daughter, who asked her how she knew how to be a mother despite never having had one herself.
“My daughter said to me the other day, ‘Mum, how do you know how to be a mum when you never had one?’”
April told her daughter that being a mother was simply natural to her.
But when her daughter asked, “Why couldn’t your mum be your mum?”, April could only respond: “I don’t know.”
Joe continues to be there for AprilFor April, Joe is no longer simply the man who discovered her in a phone box. He has become someone she can rely on as family.
“Joe saved my life 32 years ago, but he’s so much more than the man who found me,” she said.
April recently recalled Joe turning up at her home despite having undergone knee surgery just three weeks earlier. His children had planned to visit April for dinner, but Joe arrived himself, despite still limping from the operation.
“I said, ‘what are you doing here?’ Of course he brought me loads of shopping, gifts and perfume,” she said.
According to April, that gesture was typical of Joe.
“He’s the type of man you would call in the middle of the night and he would come straight away,” she said.
April is now fundraising to help Joe retire early, hoping to give something back to the man whose decision to stop and investigate a seemingly abandoned “bag of chips” changed both their lives forever.
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