Drama as rescue teams save baby girl
RESIDENTS cheered in celebration following three hours of watching rescue personnel work around the clock to save the life of a baby girl found in a stormwater drain in Durban yesterday morning.
Resident Lyron Lovedale first heard the infant’s cries when he and a friend were walking down the road in Newlands East.
“I stopped and asked my friend if he could hear a baby crying. I walked towards where I thought the sound was coming from and realised it was coming from the drain. I managed to lift the lid and saw the baby. We then ran to get help,” he said.
A team comprising officers from eThekwini Fire and Rescue, KwaZuluNatal emergency medical services, the SAPS and metro police managed to pull the baby girl to safety.
Rescue Care spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said the baby was taken to an awaiting ambulance and assessed by paramedics.
She was then airlifted to the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Cato Manor.
Lovedale, who named the baby “Storm”, cried as the baby was bundled into a towel and taken away by the paramedics. “I have a 5-year-old daughter. I cannot imagine anyone doing this to a baby,” he said.
The large crowds cheered and clapped as the baby was lifted out from the pipe.
“You are the real heroes today,” they shouted at the multidisciplinary emergency crews at the rescue site.
Ward councillor Shontel de Boer urged women who were in a similar situation to seek help instead of resorting to abandoning their babies.
“With so much help available, I cannot understand how a mother would throw her child in the drain.
“I hope that the police will do everything possible to find out who the mother of the baby is. The mother also needs medical treatment and a psychological evaluation.
“However, this has been a good outcome for the baby and we praise the police and emergency services for their hard work today,” De Boer said.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo visited the baby in hospital and called for a strengthening of family-planning programmes.