Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
This is the moment locals discover a premature newborn abandoned and left to die in a ditch with nothing but a blanket and a baby bottle.
The girl born several weeks before term was found by villagers in the town of Wulihe, which is in Qi County in the city of Kaifeng in Central China’s Henan Province.
Footage taken by local residents on 28th October shows them spotting the newborn in the dark as she is wrapped in a blanket.
The infant is later found to be alive and still moving inside the blanket, with witnesses saying she was accompanied by a baby bottle but nothing else to indicate her identity or the reasons behind her being left in the ditch.
Authorities with Wulihe Police Station were called to the scene and said they took the girl to Qi County First People’s Hospital for treatment.
She was later transferred to the larger Kaifeng Children’s Hospital where she remains in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
A staff member said: “She’s fighting an infection and her stomach is bloated.
“She’s still being examined, but she’s crying really loudly, so she should be fine.
“She was born prematurely and weighs just 1 kilogramme (2.2 lbs).”
The hospital says the girl would need to be kept in the NICU for at least two months regardless of whether her family is found.
By the time she fully recovers and can be discharged, the authorities will have decided whether to place her in the care of the city’s Social Welfare Institute.
The hospital says the girl would likely have ‘frozen to death’ had she not been found by the villagers.
The search for the girl’s parents continues.
They are likely to face serious charges if found guilty of forsaking the newborn.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
