[Roo]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,413783,00.html


Girl, 6, Playing Hide-and-Seek Finds Abandoned Baby in Bushes


SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A 6-year-old girl playing hide-and-seek with her grandmother found a newborn baby girl abandoned in a vacant lot next to her home.

Lilliana Williams-Rodriguez told her grandmother Thursday evening that she had found a doll in the bushes.

But Thelma Williams, 55, who has six children, knew right away the baby lying motionless in the weeds near a basketball hoop was no doll. She called 911 and wrapped the baby in clothing until firefighters arrived.

Police estimated the child was born an hour or two before she was discovered. The baby girl was taken to the hospital with a fever but was expected to recover.

The infant, partially wrapped in a black shirt, still had her umbilical cord attached, said police Sgt. Tom Connellan. Police weren't sure if she was born at the scene or brought there and abandoned. They were searching for the infant's mother.

The state's Abandoned Infant Protection law allows parents unable to care for their newborns to leave them, no questions asked, with a responsible person at a hospital, police station or fire station.

"Leaving the baby in the bushes like that — if the baby hadn't been found, it probably wouldn't have survived for long," Connellan said.

Williams said it was lucky her granddaughter asked her to play that evening. "It was a game of hide-and-go-seek that turned into a day of reckoning," she told The Post-Standard of Syracuse.

[mooks]

How sad that the mother wasn't mentally well enough to take the baby to a hospital

[cginny]

Thank God that poor, helpless newborn baby girl was found in time! I hope she's going to be okay and that she's placed in a good, loving, caring, permanent home. The very least the biological mother should've done was to leave her somewhere safe and in a place where she would definitely be found right away!

[ayla]

It seems like there are a slew of sad stories recently. This really hurts my heart - that mothers are willing to abandon children like this. :\

[sweetdreamer16]

I know!! so sad!! and they have the opportunity to hand over their children no questions asked~

[ShimmaPuff]

Originally Posted by sweetdreamer16

I know!! so sad!! and they have the opportunity to hand over their children no questions asked~

I would really like to see that become an everywhere thing, and publicized as if it were a Miley Cyrus concert.

Too often, the people who need it the most are people who don't know about it, don't have it where they live, or don't believe that they will really not be asked questions or asked to fill out forms.

Of course, if it was a case, as mooks suggests, of the mother having mental health issues, then no matter how universal or well publicized wouldn't matter, but in many cases it would, including ones that never get into the papers because the babies are never found.

[keodi]

Originally Posted by ayla

It seems like there are a slew of sad stories recently. This really hurts my heart - that mothers are willing to abandon children like this. :\

I know..I'm glad the baby is going to be okay.

[Megs]

Just so sad to hear that some woman thought this was the best answer.. was not comfortable enough to make a different decision

[gayathri]

I wish the Safe Haven Laws were publicized more. Many teenage mothers or low income mothers freak out or their partners/parents freak out and do this. With the umblical cord being still attached, my guess is it must have been some kid giving birth. Truly tragic.

So glad that they found this baby in the nick of time. Small miracles.

Hope the baby recovers and is placed in a loving, caring home.

[moi et mes sacs]

Thank goodness the baby was found a live. The little 6 year old was her lucky star. I am sorry for the mothers state of mind. I hope she is OK.

[Jahpson]

the biological mother must have been a teen or something. I cant see a grown woman pulling a stunt like this! how dangerous.

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by ayla

It seems like there are a slew of sad stories recently. This really hurts my heart - that mothers are willing to abandon children like this. :\

I agree.

[JAN!]

I'm just really glad the grandmother and granddaughter happened to play hide and seek.

Originally Posted by ShimmaPuff

I would really like to see that become an everywhere thing, and publicized as if it were a Miley Cyrus concert.

LOL.

[Sweetpea83]

So sad..breaks my heart! Hope the baby recovers..

[LV-PRADAfanatic]

that sad adn so wrong..