September 7, 2021

Chicago Woman Rescues Abandoned Newborn Found in Trash

Screenshot from WGN News Video
Last month, a Chicago woman found a newborn baby amongst trash while she was looking for recyclable materials. When she opened the drawers of a dresser, she found the newborn baby boy with his umbilical cord still attached. Waste removal services would have taken the baby away with the trash that same day had the anonymous woman not searched the drawers.

The woman held the child until paramedics arrived.

Matthew Lang, one of the firefighters who responded to the emergency, told CBS 2, “I look out the window, and I just see this woman, hysterical, waving her arms.” He had expected the worst, but what he saw was reassuring. “We don’t know who put the baby there, but whoever did left a rosary. My mind went to ease as soon as I saw that baby moving and crying. It was almost surreal.”

Emergency responders took the baby to Lurie Children's Hospital for treatment. Lang went to Facebook to urge parents who feel like they can't take care of their babies to surrender babies to safe havens rather than leave them in the trash.

In Illinois, parents can safely and anonymously surrender newborns 30 days old or younger to any hospital, police station, fire station, or hospital. There will be no legal repercussions to the parents, and the child's life will not be endangered.

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