'The day I was born ... my mother placed me in a trash bag'

The story had churned inside Tori Welford since she learned the facts at age 17. She had even shared it once, in 2017, to a youth group at Ingalls Avenue Baptist Church in Pascagoula. 

But this was different, watching herself — now 21 — speak on a video about the unthinkable events of Sept. 3, 1997, in Lucedale: “The day I was born, my mother went home and she placed me in a trash bag and put me in a trash can on the front porch. Later on in the day, that afternoon, my oldest brother found me, and I was blue and purple and I had ants all over me.

 "They took me to the hospital where I was not expected to live. They had to revive me several times. It’s a miracle I’m still alive.

“God has plans for everybody. I know that God has plans for me because he’s had his hand of protection on me since the day I was born.”

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When she eventually left the hospital, Tori was placed in foster care. Joey and Elaine Rogers of Lucedale — a town of 3,043 in southeast Mississippi — agreed to be her guardians. They adopted Tori four years later.

“I was lucky to be taken in by a good, loving family,” Tori says in an interview with the Clarion Ledger. “And even though I knew my (adoptive) mom and dad loved me, I always had this feeling of being unwanted. It’s like I knew something had happened. Maybe it was because I was adopted, and I didn’t know anyone else who had been adopted.

“And nobody in my biological family wanted anything to do with me. They never reached out to me. I kept asking myself, ‘Why did this have to happen to me? Why didn’t they want me?’ ”

Two years ago, after word spread that Tori’s adoptive mother had told her the events surrounding her birth, Tori received several texts from her biological mother, who is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville, Alabama. She has been there since Sept. 12, 2011, guilty of conspiracy to possess chemicals to manufacture controlled substances.

“I’m thinking one of my biological brothers or my biological grandmother (all of whom reside in Lucedale) gave my number to her,” says Tori, who lives next door to her adoptive parents. “She told me she was sorry, that I was born at a bad time in her life and that she wasn’t right with God then but that she was now. She didn’t go into any great detail. She just explained it away sort of simple, like ‘This is what happened, I’m sorry.’

“I don’t know what to believe. I forgive her, but I don’t think I want to be a part of her life. And I’ve heard she might be getting out (on parole) in the next year or two and coming back to Lucedale, and I don’t even want to think of that happening.”

Tori was 'so close to death as a baby'

The world is slowly learning of Tori’s story.

Here’s how: Kyle and Jaron Churchwell, students at the University of Southern Mississippi, own and operate Coast Media.

"We shoot videos of weddings, business and school functions, stuff like that,” Kyle Churchwell says. “I’m more into filmmaking, hoping one day to become a director. Jaron is more into the audio side of films.”

Kyle’s girlfriend told him in May about a video contest — “Film Your Faith” — that is held annually by Faith Counts, a nonprofit, nondenominational organization that, according to its website, has “come together to share a simple message that faith counts.”

 The contest had two rules: The video could be no longer than 2 minutes, and it had to demonstrate faith in a positive way.

The grand prize winner would receive $20,000.

“I started thinking about possible subjects for the video,” says Kyle, 20. “I mentioned it to Jaron, and he suggested I contact Tori.”

 The Churchwells are from Lucedale. They had heard rumors of what had happened to Tori.

"I contacted her fully expecting her to say no … the story is so heavy,” Kyle says. “She was a little hesitant at first because she had never told it on video. But I soon got a message from her, saying she would love to do it.”

Says Tori: “I felt like I needed to. I know there are people out there whose lives can be affected by it. Hopefully, it can help other people going through similar things.

“But I told Kyle, ‘I’m probably going to get emotional. I’ll try not to.’ ”

They waited one afternoon “until the golden hour,” Kyle says. “That’s the two hours before sunset when the shadows are soft and the sun has that nice golden effect. It makes everything pop.”

Kyle filmed and asked Tori questions.

“It was hard," Tori says. "There were a lot of emotions hearing those words come out of my mouth. But I think I was so focused on doing the video right, I was able to get through it.”

Kyle was stunned by what he heard.

 “I wasn’t 100 percent sure what had happened to Tori,” Kyle says. “But as she talked, I couldn’t believe it. She was sitting there right in front of me and had been so close to death as a baby. I could not only hear her words I could feel her words — and even more when I started putting the video together.”

When he finished the editing process, Kyle shared the video with Tori.

“I just sat there and cried,” she says. “It brought back a lot of things to me. After my mom told me the whole story — the summer between my junior and senior year — I started getting to know my biological family. I had an aunt and uncle. I met my oldest brother, who was the one who found me in the trash. I met another brother. And my biological grandmother.

“I had a million questions, but I wanted to give them a chance to be a part of my life. And it would’ve been nice to hear ‘I’m sorry’ from my grandmother. But I got nothing. They really weren’t interested in getting to know me.”

There is one exception — the brother who found her.

“He told me how it happened,” Tori says. “He said he was about 11. He was an adventurous kid, always outdoors. And he was down by a ditch near the road, and he heard a baby crying. He ran back to the house and got somebody — one of my biological mother’s friends — and she got me out of the trash can and called an ambulance. I’d already been in there about five hours.

“That day we talked, I just kept looking at my brother and telling him, ‘If not for you … ’ I always say the Lord saved my life, but my brother was my angel.” 

They still talk on occasion, but texts and phone calls from the Clarion Ledger to her brother for comment were not returned.

 'This added a hundred different emotions'  

In September, Kyle, Jaron and Tori traveled as guests of Faith Counts to Columbus, Ohio, for the 69th annual Religion News Association Convention.

Their video — “Faith Is Knowing” — won the grand prize. Kyle plans to share the winning payday with Tori.

Faith Counts began sharing the video.

A man in Lucedale watched it several times. So did his wife. They were convinced that he was Tori’s biological father.

“I learned later on that he had always thought that,” Tori says. “But my mother said she wasn’t sure who my father was. She said it could’ve been one of several men.”

The couple contacted Tori’s sister — the Rogers’ only other child — and asked if she would talk to Tori about a DNA test.

“When I was 17, I went to the courthouse, trying to find information about my biological father,” Tori says. “But they refused to give me any information. So when my sister asked me about the test, I told her I wanted to.”

The man, indeed, proved to be her biological father.

“He called me a couple of hours after I got the test results back,” Tori says. “He was crying so hard he could barely talk. He kept saying that he wanted to be part of my life but that he would leave it up to me.”

Their first meeting wasn’t exactly must-see TV.

“I went to their house, then we went out to eat,”  Tori says. “Everybody was real quiet. He had his daughter and son and wife with him. I guess they were nervous. I sure was.”

Their second meeting was on a Sunday. They attended church together, then went to their house for lunch.

“That day went a lot better,” she says. “But it was the third meeting — they wanted to do something for my birthday — where everybody kind of opened up. We laughed. We talked about everything.

“He works out of town a lot and won’t be back until just before Thanksgiving. But he messages me and checks on me. So does his wife. I went to church with her the other day.

“And my parents have been good about everything. I think they understand why I wanted to get to know him.

“It’s amazing that the video brought me and my biological dad together.”

Kyle says the experience changed his perspective on filmmaking.

“Of course, the $20,000 was the big news among my friends,” Kyle says, laughing. “But money comes and money goes. Helping someone make a connection with their biological father … I was already in shock about winning. This added a hundred different emotions.

“I’ve talked to my girlfriend about what it means for the video to have affected two people’s lives the way it did. The whole thing reassures me that I’m on the right track, that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and that I need to keep going.”

A heart that's healed    

Tori has her own goals.

She is attending Pearl River Community College with plans to work as an ultrasound technician.

She also enjoys the life of a country girl — riding four-wheelers, fishing, listening to country music.

And Tori says her heart has healed about a lot of the issues concerning her biological mother’s family.

But she has experience with that.

When she was 13, Tori began having severe chest pains. She underwent tests in Mobile that revealed a hole in her heart. Doctors referred her to specialists at UAB University Hospital in Birmingham.    

“We asked people to pray that the Lord would heal my heart,” Tori says.

After undergoing tests at UAB, a puzzled doctor asked exactly what Tori had been told in Mobile.

“They said she has a hole in her heart that would require surgery,” Tori’s mom explained.

“There is no hole in her heart,” the doctor said. “What we do see is where a hole once was, but a thin layer has grown over it. She doesn’t need surgery.”

Tori grows emotional while recalling that story.

"Like I said, God has had his protective hand on me since the day I was born,” she says. “I know that for sure.”

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