This story tells about a police officer, who adopted a abused child.
Christmas was the favorite time of the 40-year-old Lt. Brian Zach. Inside his office, the Christmas Tree was well decorated with ornaments. But he knew, the gifts were not always perfectly wrapped under the tree.
He met one of life’s greatest gifts during a welfare check some years ago in Kingman, Arizona. The town is known as being the “heart” of historic Route 66. Most police calls are about theft or drugs or domestic violence.
But on that particular day, Zach was assigned to help with a case of child abuse. The victim was a two-year-old girl named Kaila.
“My heart felt for this little girl who was covered in bruises. She just had a very strong spirit. She had a skull fracture, brain bleed, and a dislocated elbow” Zach told.
He was very shocked to see the child at first and it was not for the first time for him to see such kind of things during his work.
Zach said. “I had a 13-month-old die. That was hard. It is something that is emotionally scarring that I relive every time I talk about it. Look, Kaila could be that little girl but God had a different plan.”
First, he made friends with Kaila as they waited for social workers. When the authorities were looking for a foster family for Kaila, his kindness was revealed.
Zach said. “The question that changed our lives forever was, ‘Would you actually consider being a placement home?’ And we immediately said, ‘Yes.’
Kaila was only supposed to be with Zach and his wife and their two older children, Raina and Trevin, for a short time.
“They said it would only be a couple of weeks to a month until they could find a placement home for her. We played it week by week, month by month, court date by court date not knowing how long we would really have,” Zach said.
While waiting, Zach was often thinking about where Kaila would live long-term.
With lots of tears he said, “If I stopped and thought about it, it would make me sick to my stomach not knowing what this girl’s future would be if she left. Having seen what happens when children are in the system… it made me worry a lot more.”
Zach’s family always made Kaila happy and created memories with Kaila. They took her to Disneyland and Hawaii. After four years, now Zach and his wife are her adoptive parents.
Zach and Detective Heath Mosby were studying in the same high school and they became closer friends on the force.
“We started out rookies together,” Mosby said.
Even though they knew each other well, Mosby had no idea what was coming for Zach.
Mosby said “I was awestruck! I never heard of any of our officers doing that. When it came down to adoption, it was like ‘Wow!’… Especially after the journey she went through.
Mosby appreciated him and said that Zach was of great value to the Kingman community. Zach is following in the footsteps of his forebears and mentors — his father was a state trooper and his grandfather was one of the first motorcycle officers for the same agency where Zach is now a lieutenant. Their badges are displayed on a shelf in Zach’s office.
In his words, Zach said “It is very much in my blood. I feel very fortunate to have the career I’ve had and help the people that I’ve helped. You get to see the difference you make, you get to know the people you help, and there are very, very kind people here”
Zach said to those who are hesitating to foster or adopt, it’s one of the best decisions he and his family have made.
“Just do it. The process isn’t as harsh or overburdened as we thought,” Zach said.
Yes! His words are echoing into our ears. His family decision encourages many of us not to hesitate to foster or adopt the ill-fated and under-privileged one.
