Amanda Rector was in crisis when she gave birth to her second son in 2004.
She lived with an abusive boyfriend, was addicted to heroin, and little baby Hunter was born dependent on opioids.
Without a crib or even a car seat, she was told by staff at the South Carolina hospital that she would not be able to take the child home.
Having already lost custody of her first-born son Jameson, then two, she feared she would never see her baby again.
But at that moment she just wanted to leave the maternity ward as quickly as possible.
“This happened at a time in my life when I was at my worst,” the now 44-year-old principal wrote in an self-published article.
“I had already lost custody of my first son and my life was crumbling around me so quickly that it was hard to keep track of all the losses. I had become a bit numb.’
“The truth was I was addicted to heroin,” she added.
She never dreamed that 18 years later she would be hugging her son for the first time at her local Walmart.
Amanda Rector, 44, was at the height of her addiction when she gave birth to an opioid-dependent baby, Hunter Bouchette, in October 2004.
Days after Hunter’s birth, Rector of Orangeburg had returned to the hospital where she gave birth with her partner after he developed an infection in his arm from drug use.
After waiting more than two hours in the emergency room, it dawned on her that she might be able to visit her newborn baby, who was sleeping peacefully a few floors away.
“I got into an elevator alone and pressed the button to take me to the baby floor,” she wrote in her article.
On the way up, the then drug-soaked principal caught a glimpse of himself in the elevator’s reflective doors.
It was then that she noticed her disheveled appearance and how malnourished she had become, while she was covered in marks and bruises.
‘I could see my reflection in the shiny door and it was as distorted as my life. I was malnourished, not clean and still wearing clothes that were way too big for me,” she wrote.
Then she saw him sleeping peacefully, wrapped in a blue and white blanket, recognizable only by his bright red hair and a teddy bear-shaped sticker with his name on it.
She took a moment to work up the courage to ask to see the baby she had delivered a few days earlier, aware of her less than motherly appearance and bravely knocked on the nursery door.
“Do you remember me?” she asked the ‘sweet nurse’ as she nervously turned her eyes to the ground, waiting for a resounding ‘no’.
She remembered the nurse examining her unkempt appearance: “I know she saw how dirty I was,” she wrote.
‘Maybe she even saw the bruises I had. But she didn’t look at me in disgust,” the article continued.
In 2006, she was arrested and imprisoned for armed robbery. She was sentenced to five years, but ultimately only served two and a half years
To her surprise, the nurse agreed and turned around baby Hunter as “hot tears” rolled down her face and onto his “little blanket.”
‘I was already staring at you in your crib. You were so perfect. How could something so perfect come from me? I started talking to you in whispers,” she recalled.
‘”I’m sorry.” Tears rolled down my face. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. You deserve a much better mother than I can be right now.”
‘I wanted to get out of that room and out of that hospital as quickly as possible. You see, something happened at that moment that gave me the worst pain I had ever felt. The ice around my heart thawed. The thawing and tears ensued and the piercing clarity of losing (Hunter) hit me like a ton of bricks,” she wrote.
Four months later, her baby was adopted by another family living in the city.
She remembered trying constantly to numb the pain in the years after his birth.
In 2006, she was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for armed robbery, but she only served two and a half years.
She remembered finding Jesus on her first day in prison when she started attending 12-Step meetings and joining the choir.
“I did everything that was positive or healthy,” the rector said Today.com reflecting on her experiences in prison.
Before she was released from prison, she sent her second son’s adoptive parents a letter explaining that she didn’t want them to be nervous about meeting her.
She noted that her father had attended the same church as Hunter and his family.
“I wrote to them to let them know that I go to a different church than my father,” she said. But she never received a response.
From then on, she started noticing Hunter around town and at a cancer fundraiser with her firstborn son Jameson — whom she had regained custody of after a drawn-out custody dispute following her release from prison.
“He had bright red hair and a pale complexion,” the principal said. “I grabbed Jameson’s hand and thought, ‘That’s your brother!’ As he looked back, cheerful music came over the intercom and Hunter started dancing.’
Pictured: Amanda Rector and her son Hunter meet for the first time at Walmart
“We just stood there like vines and watched him for the entire song,” she continued, adding, “I felt a peace come over me.” It was as if God said, ‘He is dancing. He’s happy.’
The principal did not approach him for the same reason that she had written letters but never sent them. “It wasn’t my place,” she explained.
Fourteen years later, while at a local Walmart where she had previously been banned for shoplifting, she saw Jameson, now 22, talking to a teenage girl.
The girl later identified herself as Bella, Hunter’s girlfriend. She had approached Jameson to let him know that she knew his brother and that he was standing just a few feet away from them.
Rector would later learn that Hunter had become curious about his birth mother and had recently discovered her identity.
‘I was speechless. I couldn’t believe it was happening, I didn’t know if he was going to get mad at me and swear at me,” she said. “I would have been fine with that.”
Instead, her son, who was now 18 years old, greeted her with an unexpected, but completely welcome hug.
“I let go at first because I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but he persisted,” she said of the miraculous chance encounter.
“And then we just sat there and talked.”
Overcome with emotion and barely able to keep herself together, Rector exchanged phone numbers with her son in the hope that they would connect in the future.
“As soon as they were out of sight, I burst into sobs,” she recalls.
Months passed and only a few text messages were exchanged, none of which resulted in anything.
Rector would later learn that Hunter had become curious about his birth mother and had recently discovered her identity. Now Rector, who just celebrated her 17th year of sobriety, sees her son Hunter ‘at least once a week’
But through what Rector described in a video on TikTok as yet another “miracle” chance encounter, she ran into her now teenage son as he was leaving her local church — another church he and his adoptive parents attended.
When he noticed his birth mother, he drove his truck to the principal and explained to her that he was ready to get to know her.
Now Rector, who just celebrated her seventeenth year of sobriety, sees her son Hunter “at least once a week.”
She now works as a certified peer support specialist, helping others struggling with substance abuse.
She also shares stories about prison life on TikTok, where she has nearly a million followers.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Hunter recalled the “incredible experience” of encountering Rector at Walmart.
‘I was in awe. We were both just speechless. We hugged each other, had awkward small talk and exchanged phone numbers.”
‘About a month later we ran into each other at church and I thought I recognized her, but I got in my car and drove away. But God told me to turn around,” he continued.
“I stopped next to her and told her I was ready to talk and we made plans to meet again at church the next evening.”
He added that it was great getting to know his mother and brother.