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Desmond said she was inspired by her husband's Albanian traditions to set up a homecoming parade. So she reached out to her friends, Det. Andrew Greenberg and his wife, Officer Sam Doherty, who both work at the Peabody Police Department, to see if they could help, and he quickly set up a police escort for Mateo on Feb. 20.

\"As we're coming down every street that we came down, every intersection was blocked off. It wasn't just one police escort. It was the entire day shift,\" Desmond said. \"As soon as [other officers] got word of what was going on, everybody wanted part of it. And they're all waving. It was beautiful.\"

\"PHOTO:
Samantha Desmond
PHOTO: Baby Mateo Jakic was born on Oct. 28, 2022.
>

Peabody Police Lt. David Bonfanti said Sgt. Michael Bettencourt and the entire patrol team sprung into action to help a community member who had been through so much.

\"Well, you know, we're all fathers and mothers first. You think of what that family is going through and we can take literally three minutes out of our day, to make something special for a family that's gone through so much. They were excited,\" Bonfanti said. \"They were able to make a positive [...] impact on a community member for the city.\"

Now, Mateo weighs more than 9 pounds and 13 ounces and is enjoying life at home. Desmond said she is beyond grateful for all of the support her family has received.

\"[Mateo] has been so strong and has overcome everything that came up,\" she said. \"I make this joke constantly, but he was literally just done cooking. He did not need [40 weeks] and he'll prove it for the rest of his life.\"

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