Investigation into the death of ‘miracle’ baby

POLICE are investigating after a “miracle” baby born at Lefkoşa State Hospital last year with serious birth defects and who was abandoned by his parents died at home on Tuesday.

The death occurred at an address in Vadili where the 11-month-old baby boy, initially known as “Judie” and then later named Tatenda Dhliwayo, was being cared for by prospective foster parents.

Teslime and Yüksel Korkmaz had taken in little Tatenda last month after undergoing “special guidance and training” by Health Ministry and Social Services teams.

Prior to that, the baby had been cared for in hospital because his Nigerian mother, who already had a four-year-old daughter, said she could not cope after learning her son would need special care. Staff at Lefkoşa State Hospital said they “never saw” the infant’s father.

The baby was born with a “cranial anomaly”, identified during pre-birth checks, which left him blind and partially paralysed. He spent the first four months of his life in an incubator.

Doctors had given Tatenda little hope of being born alive or sur- viving for very long.

His foster parents said he “suddenly fell ill” after having lunch on Tuesday. He was taken to a health centre in nearby Akdoğan before being rushed by ambulance to Gazimağusa State Hospital, but died on the way there.

An autopsy revealed the cause of death as “aspiration of gastric contents and respiratory failure”, police said.