Leland man abandoned as baby shares his story

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Leland man is beating the odds. 

He was once an abandoned baby, now he’s an advocate for North Carolina’s Safe Surrender Law. 

John Frazer is using his voice in light of recent news of a newborn found alive in a Greenville dumpster on Sunday. 

“When it comes to children, I have a compassion for that. There are too many people dying, too many kids dying,” Frazer said. 

In May of 1964, when John Frazer was two, he was found abandoned in a paper bag underneath a pile of rocks in Pennsylvania   

Three children found him and took him to the local fire department. Frazer gives credit to one of the boys that found him. The boy told firefighters he heard what he thought was an injured animal, before realizing it was a baby.  

He says the boys were in the right place at the right time because this was an unusual course for the children to have taken.  

“He never went that way before, never went that way before,” Frazer said. 

Frazer was then placed into foster care and was eventually adopted. He said he’s had a good life, despite how it started, and is using his story to help others.  

“There are places you can go to; police department, fire department, hospitals. No questions asked,” Frazer said. 

North Carolina law allows a mother to surrender a baby, legally and with no questions asked, to another responsible adult within the first seven days of the infant’s life.  

Now what led Frazer to ending up here in Brunswick County is another unbelievable chain of events.  

Through Ancestry.com, Frazer later found out he was number 19 of 20 kids.   

He has since then connected with many of his siblings, one brother living in Leland.  

Frazer made the move and enjoys spending time with his brother. He has plans to soon meet more of his family.  

“So, if my story helps anybody, helps any kid, it needs to be told,” Frazer said. 

Frazer said he was ultimately given a second chance and wants to see other abandoned children be presented with that same opportunity but in a safer way.