April Jones was just hours old when she was found abandoned inside a London phone box in April 1994, dressed only in baby clothes, with her umbilical cord still attached.
How did Campbell bump into April?
Joe Campbell, originally from Guyana, stumbled upon her that night by chance.
He had been heading back to the phone box to call home when he spotted what he initially thought was an empty crisp packet on the ground near a community centre.
As he drew closer, he realised it was a newborn baby girl. It was an unusually warm morning for April, and Campbell later said on Good Morning Britain that some form of divine intervention must have kept her alive.
How old was April when Campbell rescued her?
Authorities told Campbell the baby was under 12 hours old. He asked if he could keep her and was told no.
He managed to see her once more after that night, when he was permitted to take a photograph. From then on, he sent cards, gifts and money every year and made visits to check on her until he was asked to stop.
He never forgot her, and spoke of her often to his own children, telling them they had an older sister out there somewhere.
April launches public appeal to find Campbell
In 2016, April launched a public appeal to find the man who had saved her life.
She placed a photograph in a newspaper, and a colleague of Campbell’s spotted it at work, tossed a copy of the Metro onto his desk and said: “Joe, that’s you.”
Campbell rang home that same day and told his daughter Riana he believed he had found April. He came forward within 24 hours.
Why and when did April change her name?
Three decades on, the pair returned to Good Morning Britain for a reunion that moved both of them to tears. April, who had previously appeared on the programme under the name Kiran, revealed she had officially changed her name back to April on her birthday, April 30 of this year, as a tribute to the name Campbell had given her the night he found her.
She described Campbell as the father figure she never had growing up, saying he had stepped into a space left empty by absent parents and a difficult childhood.
“He has filled every gap,” she said, adding that the bond between them felt destined from the moment they first embraced in 2016.
April surprises Campbell with KSh 3.4 million
April also revealed she had organised a fundraising campaign to help Campbell, who had undergone two knee replacement surgeries and was continuing to work as a bus driver in considerable pain.
Supported by donations from members of the public online, she presented him with KSh 3.4 million on the show, with hopes it would allow him to retire. Campbell, visibly emotional, deflected the praise.
“I’m not a special person,” he said. “Every child that is born has the right to be loved.” April was quick to disagree.
