Baby dumped in drain survives

RESCUERS EXTRICATE HER IN FOUR HOURS Doctors say she has no injuries or broken bones and is awake and responsive.

The newborn child rescued from a stormwater drainpipe in Durban yesterday is in good health at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital and her attending doctor has described her as a miracle baby.

“She has been awake, responsive and crying,” Dr Timothy Hardcastle said yesterday. She is stable enough for transfer to base hospital so the social aspect can be sorted.”

According to Hardcastle, their tests showed that the baby, who is estimated to be just three days old, had no serious injuries or broken bones and they were “satisfied and happy” with her condition.

“The main problem was that she was very cold. She came in at 35.5°C.

“We warmed her up and washed off dust and cleaned her abrasions.

“Our colleagues from paediatrics brought through basic medications.”

The medical staff believed the baby had been trapped in the drain pipe on the corner of Barracuda Road and Herring Circle in Durban for at least five hours.

Rescue Care Paramedics spokesperson Gareth Jamieson said the rescue mission started just after 6am and the baby was successfully removed from the pipe at 9.40am.

According to Jamieson, residents heard a baby crying in a storm water drain and a bystander climbed into the drain and saw the baby a few metres down.

The rescuers used hydraulic jacks and wooden boards to stabilise a hole they had dug around the pipe in which the child was trapped.

Then they pulled her out through a hole they had broken in the pipe.

“Great work done by everyone this morning in this horrible situation,” Jamieson said.

“The entire rescue took approximately four hours.

“It involved the South African Police Service search and rescue, metro police search and rescue, Durban Fire Department, Rescue Care Paramedics, EMRS Paramedics and Multiple Ambulance Services.”

It was unknown why the baby had been dumped. – Additional reporting by ANA