From birth to college graduation, this Colorado Springs firefighter became part of the family
Michael Logerwell
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KRDO) – It was more than her parents and siblings cheering on Chloe Huddle in the crowd at Grand Canyon University on Friday.
“You know, I, I got very teary-eyed when she graduated from high school, so it’s just the next step,” Alan Kent, a former 35-year Colorado Springs firefighter, told KRDO13 over a video call hours before Chloe walked on Friday.
This graduation was at most the second-most important milestone of Chloe’s life that Alan has been present for.
“As we pulled up, I remember the sun coming up, and it was a gorgeous, gorgeous morning,” Alan recalled. “But I remember a scream coming out of the house.”
Alan was working as a firefighter at Colorado Springs Fire Station 15 when his crew got the call for a medical emergency. That morning, Alan would help deliver a healthy baby girl who was coming into the world more than a week before her due date.
“I do remember after Chloe was born, we were in the ambulance and we were headed to the hospital, and Alan was right there, [in] the back of the ambulance. I could see the beautiful sun rising in the mountains there in Colorado Springs,” Stacy Huddle also said she remembered that beautiful sunrise amid the hectic morning.
After they were released from the hospital, Stacy brought Chloe to the fire station to meet Alan in a calmer situation.
Alan holding baby Chloe.
“I think I just instinctively just knew Alan was just going to be part of our family. And just really wanted to go back to the fire station and say thank you,” Stacy said.
22 years later, and those instincts have been proven right.
“I honestly don’t know, like anything different. I feel like it’s just it is family. And so whenever there’s like a big celebration, we expect them to come, because they are family,” Chloe Huddle said.
“It means the world to me,” Alan said. “Right now, she’s making the next steps in her life, and I’m glad she wants me to be a part of her family.”