Crying baby with umbilical cord still attached dumped on top of garbage can
A newborn baby boy with his umbilical cord still attached was found crying after dumped on top of a garbage can.
The stricken infant was discovered by a mother and daughter who were alerted by his cries in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood Tuesday.
Police and paramedics were called. By the time the latter arrived, the baby had stopped breathing and had no pulse.
The medical team spent 30 minutes working on him at the scene, before rushing him to hospital.
Ambulance commander Melanie Howe told CBS2: ‘He was freezing cold.
‘By the time we left the firehouse he was already starting to move a little bit, breathing on his own, very little bit, inadequate and not sustainable with life, but we kept working CPR.
‘And we kept ventilating him with the mask and the bag.
‘His color stayed good.
‘By the time we got him to the hospital we had just a little discernible movements, and it was enough to know we had a chance.’
The youngster was taken to Norwegian America Hospital, and then transported to Lurie Children’s Hospital.
His condition is said to have stabilized, and he is now moving his arms and legs, and also has his eyes open.
Chicago Fire Department paramedic field chief Patrick Fitzmaurice called on other mothers in the same situation to leave their newborns somewhere safer.
He said: ‘I don’t know what it’s like to be pregnant with a child in some horrible circumstances where you are driven to do something like this that almost sound diabolical.
‘But come to us. If she would have called 911, we would have taken the baby to one hospital and her to another.
‘We won’t judge. Don’t leave your baby in an alley. Come to a firehouse. Leave the baby there. Give the kid a chance. This poor kid was just minutes away from not having a chance, and these guys did a magnificent job