Ryan Holets saved a life but also changed his own in a profound way, when the Albuquerque police officer adopted a homeless woman's heroin-addicted baby. Officer Ryan Holets was on patrol when a call through about a possible convenience store robbery. But as it turns out, God didn't call him there about a theft. He brought Ryan to save a baby girl who hadn't even been born yet!
"It's not every day I see a sight like that and it just made me really sad," he said.The mom-to-be was 35-year-old Crystal Champ. She's been battling a heroin and crystal meth addiction since her teenage years, but can't seem to break free.
"It just keeps coming back and ruining my life," she says.RELATED: Man Loses His Brother To Addiction, Then Pens Heartbreakingly Honest Message At first, Ryan responded the way most would -- with outrage. He scolded Crystal for the damage she was doing to her unborn child.
"You're going to kill your baby," Ryan said in the bodycam footage. "Why do you have to be doing that stuff? It's going to ruin your baby."And that's when Crystal started sobbing. She's pro-life, so abortion wasn't even a consideration. But caught in the depths of a terrible addiction, she just couldn't seem to "get well," even when she found out she was pregnant.
"I know what a horrible person I am and what a horrible situation I'm in," she said.
"I just felt God telling me, 'Tell her that you will do it because you can,’” he recalls.In that moment, something inside Ryan changed. In fact, even Crystal picked up that something was different.
"He became a human being instead of a police officer," she said.RELATED: Former Heroin Addict Asks The Judge For The Most Unusual Favor Instead of busting the couple, Ryan showed them pictures of his wife and four children, which included a 10-month old baby. Next, he offered to take Crystal's baby girl once she was born. Crystal couldn't believe it. She desperately searched Ryan's eyes to see if he was serious. He was.
"He already knew my heart on the issue and he knew that I would be totally onboard with it," she said.The two had been discussion adoption but originally wanted to wait until after their own baby was a bit older. But after Ryan shared Crystal's story, Rebecca knew their home was the right place for this baby. She knew they could handle it if the police officer adopted the homeless woman's baby.
"We feel God has called us to do that," she said. "It's been on our hearts for a while."RELATED: Foster Mom Of Baby Born Addicted To Drugs Sees Things Differently Three weeks later, Crystal delivered a beautiful baby girl. Ryan was there and marveled at God's incredible plan.
"I was led by God to take the chance," Ryan said. "God brought us all together. I really don't have any other way to explain it."
"She needs to have a safe environment and a stable life and be able to grow and be nurtured and be safe and secure," Crystal said. "There needs to be more people like Ryan and his wife and their family in this world."As for the Holets family, they are just thankful God decided to use them to provide such things.
“I am so thankful and blessed and humbled that we are allowed to be Hope in our family,” Ryan said.