An 18-year-old Georgia student’s recent high school graduation was more than just a special milestone – it was a reunion with someone she met when she was just 36 days old.
In 1996, Lava Barwari’s mother, Awaz, was on Saddam Hussein’s kill list, according to ABC. When Awaz arrived at the border to leave Iraq with her newborn, Iraqi soldiers said that her daughter’s name wasn’t on the list and that she had to stay behind.
“He actually pointed to the window and said, ‘You can toss her to somebody who can deliver her to your family,’ ” Barwari told The Gwinnett Daily Post. “She’s not a sack of potatoes. I’m not giving her to anybody. That’s my baby. That’s the whole point why I’m leaving my country and my mom behind.”
American soldier Greg Peppin saw what was happening and stepped in.
Peppin asked Barwari what her daughter’s name was, and after she told him it was Lava, he said, “That’s a beautiful name, but today, that’s not her name. Her name is Greg Peppin.”
The U.S. soldier carried Lava across the border using his own passport. “I said my name is Greg so if the baby’s name is Greg it’s got to be a relative and that means she can go,” Peppin told ABC.
But after that lifesaving moment, Lava and Awaz, who settled in Hoschton, Georgia, never saw Peppin again – until Lava’s graduation at Mill Creek High School.
Read more at People magazine. (Don’t judge me- it showed in my newsfeed).
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmWSdO1tf5M[/youtube]
