Abandoned in a Trash Bin
“I just thought how close the baby came to being dumped in this thing,” Sheppard said, pointing to his garbage truck. “It can crush a refrigerator. I had the forks in it. She started twitching her hands, jerking her hands, like babies do.”
Sheppard found the baby, which appeared to be just hours old, at 3:30 a.m. on January 21. The newborn was abandoned in the trash bin behind a Savannah, Georgia, Cadillac dealership.
The baby was in good condition Tuesday in the neonatal intensive care unit at Memorial Health University Medical Center.
“They're calling her Grace. The last word I have is she's healthy,” said Earline Davis, director of the Chatham County Department of Family and Children Services.
Not as Shocking as You'd Think
Davis said her office had received 20 phone calls from people wanting to adopt the abandoned child. She said the state will put the newborn in a temporary foster home when she leaves the hospital.
If the baby's parents can be identified, the state first must see if family members are willing and able to care for her. Otherwise, the state will seek to terminate parental rights and have the baby adopted, a process that can take six months or longer, Davis said.
In many ways, Sheppard was fortunate to have found the baby alive, said Dr. James Hughes, an emergency physician at St. Joseph's/Candler Hospital in Savannah. She could have easily suffocated if covered in trash, or died from cold had the early morning temperature not been 52 degrees.
“If it's an empty, cold Dumpster and it gets down in the 40s, then it would be only a few hours,” Hughes said. “It is absolutely a miracle the baby was found.”
Garbage collectors say they're used to finding raccoons, cats and homeless people in trash bins. Finding babies isn't as much of a shock as it used to be, said Tony Pagan, a mechanic and backup driver at Atlantic Waste Services, where Sheppard works.
Paying a Bit More Attention
“Used to be, they left babies on a doorstep with a note,” Pagan said. “These girls out here, they are getting bolder. They just throw them in Dumpsters.”
Sheppard said the baby was shaking and her eyes were open when he pulled her from the refuse. But she didn't start crying until he laid her in the truck, under a heater, while waiting for police to arrive.
Sheppard finished his 12-hour shift after talking to police, but made sure he took a closer look before dumping any trash.
“I am paying a little more attention now,” Sheppard said. “You never know.”
This article from the Associated Press courtesy of Steven Ertelt and the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.
