A newborn baby in South Africa was rescued alive after being found naked, lying in a underground water drain after a freezing rain storm, and only a few feet from a swarming nest of stinging red ants.
According to the Daily Mail, 63-year-old Charmaine Keevy was walking her dog the morning of April 3 when the animal suddenly became agitated. Keevy then heard what she thought was a cat, only to realize that the tiny noise was actually coming from a newborn baby lying on the concrete at the opening of a cement drain six feet underground.
She managed to wave down a passing driver, 60-year-old Cornie Viljoen, to help. The Daily Mail continues:
He grabbed a steel bar from the boot of his car and with Charmaine's help the pair of them managed to lever the heavy concrete slab covering the storm water drain free so they could look inside.
Rescuer Cornie had to drop six feet down into the drain and almost immediately began being stung on both his legs and realised he was standing in a colony of red ants as he tried to grab the baby.
Thankfully, the infant was a few feet away from the ants – but was still lying naked on the freezing concrete.
Cornie said he had the presence of mind to snap this photo for crime scene investigators just before scooping the little girl up, climbing out of the drain, and calling an ambulance.
The Daily Mail adds medical experts said the baby girl “was found naked with the umbilical cord still attached and that she was suffering from hypothermia and respiratory problems.” Police have added that the only way the little girl could have gotten into the drain was if someone had removed the cover, deliberately placed her in it, and sealed it back up again.
But against all odds, she survived. And no one quite knows how.
Hospital staff have named the baby Grace April. The mother still hasn’t been identified.