Newborn in burn horror

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File photo

Published Sep 1, 2015

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Johannesburg - It was the haunting cries of a newborn baby fighting for its life that caught the attention of two pupils on their way to school in Chiawelo, Soweto.

Gingerly, the two youngsters followed the wail, which led them to a rocky hill nearby. Among the grass lay a tiny infant, covered in blood and wrapped in a plastic bag.

The day-old baby girl had been abandoned in the early hours of Monday – another statistic in an ongoing problem of mothers abandoning their babies across the country.

A source said the mother had apparently set the plastic bag covering the baby alight, inflicting burn wounds on its leg, hand and face.

The discovery of the baby was the type of sight that would haunt the two pupils for the rest of their lives.

Once they spotted the fragile baby, the boys started crying hysterically. One of them ran home to alert his parents, according to an eyewitness

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Alarmed, the boy’s mother, Thatheni Nephawe, ran to the scene, a few metres from the family’s house.

 

“When I arrived there, I so was so scared. I saw a child covered in blood. At first I thought it was dead, but I was so relieved when I heard a cry. It looked like the mother gave birth in the morning and left it there.”

Nephawe said the umbilical cord was still attached to the baby. “The plastic was tied in a way that prevented air from getting inside. Whoever did this wanted to kill this child,” she said, still visibly shaken.

But she knew she needed to act quickly, so she ran back to her house to fetch a blanket to cover the infant. Moments later, the police arrived and took the baby to Chiawelo Clinic.

Police spokesman Captain Mpande Khoza said a case of abandonment had been opened.

“A newborn was found abandoned this morning and has since been taken to a local clinic,” he said.

The latest statistics of child abandonment are not immediately available. But it was estimated that more than 3 500 babies were abandoned in South Africa in 2010, according to the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society.

Media reports in May 2012 quoted the society as saying the organisation received nine abandoned babies a month.

Meanwhile, Nephawe is now hailed as a hero in the community for saving the infant’s life. “I may not know why I had to be the one to save the baby, but God knows. I think it’s His will,” she said.

Another woman said she wished for divine retribution for the woman who abandoned the baby.

“The woman who did this will never find peace in her life, I (am) telling you.) I believe it’s one of the girls we know around here. There is no way she could have given birth by herself, somebody helped her,” said another woman, who didn’t want to be named.

As news of the find spread, community members descended on the scene.

Streets vendors, roadside mechanics and children seemed at a loss for words to describe what they just saw.

Many were shocked.

“Who would do such an evil thing to a child?” a voice rang out from the crowd of residents who had gathered nearby.

 

At the clinic, the baby was reported to be receiving emergency treatment, and it was determined that she was suffering from hypothermia as a result of exposure to the elements.

 

A source familiar with the incident told The Star that doctors at the clinic had managed to keep the baby alive, slowly raising her temperature, which had dropped dangerously to below 22°C. But they struggled to raise her body heat, eventually transporting her to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital for critical care treatment.

Staff at the clinic contacted the police to report the case.

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