Woman out for a morning walk heard her dog barking at storm drain — when she inspected carefully, she saved a baby
Paying attention to signs and details can save a person's life at times. Something similar happened with a woman who was out with her dog on a walk. The woman, Charmaine Keevy, was walking with her sausage dog Georgie in Elizabeth Port, South Africa, when he started barking at a storm drain gutter. Keevy thought that it was a cat mewing at first, but when she got down on her knees and listened to the sound carefully, she was quite surprised, per The Sun UK.
The 63-year-old knew that it was a baby crying from inside the gutter. The woman stood up and immediately started waving at the passing vehicles for help. Eventually, a man, Cornie Viljoen, stopped to check up on her. Both of them could hear the baby's cries from the storm drain and got to work to get the baby out. They got out a heavy steel bar from Viljoen's car and moved the heavy slab covering the drain. With one look inside, the man jumped into the gutter, even though there was a six-foot drop. The moment he got down, he was bitten by a colony of stinging red ants on both his feet. He rushed to grab the baby and asked the woman to call the emergency services immediately.
"The baby was lucky the red ants were higher up in the drain and not down at the bottom where she was. I just do not know why anyone could do this to a newborn baby, but I was just so glad that we were able to help her and save her life," Viljoen shared. Soon enough, the paramedics and the police arrived at the scene and treated the baby for hypothermia and then took her to the Dora Nginza Hospital for emergency medical treatments, per the outlet. Keevy expressed, "I honestly believe I was meant to find that baby by God, as I usually take a different route on my dog walk, but for some reason went another way." She added, "I cannot help but feel that there is some sort of a plan and a purpose for that little girl’s life – it is a miracle without a doubt."
"There is a possibility that the person who did this may have come from outside the area and placed the child there. We are appealing for witnesses and the mother of this baby to come forward," Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu told the outlet. The Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Crimes Unit of the South African Police Service has been contacted for the case and they are trying to find the little girl's mother. The baby's umbilical cord was still attached when she was found, per Little Things. Police shared that the baby could only be in such a situation if someone removed the slab covering the drain and jumped down to leave her there.
The hospital staff named the baby Grace April, per The Sun and she has quickly become a celebrity at that place. A social worker, Pamela Rubushe, was caring for the baby at that time and would look after her until she found a good home. Rubushe felt that the baby might have been in the situation for a couple of hours and was found just in time. Keevy hoped the baby would find a good home if her mother didn't come forward for her.