'She was crying for her life': 30-minute-old baby dumped in a park in sub-zero temperatures
A 30-minute-old baby crying for her life was rescued by a mother and her son after she was dumped in a London park and almost froze to death due to the sub-zero temperatures.
Rima Zvaliauskiene, 55, was taking her dog for a walk in the park when she heard loud cries. She was afraid to go near the place the cries came from, so she called her son Ovidijus to check it out and they realized it was a baby.
Rima Zvaliauskiene and her son, Ovidijus, at the place where they found the baby | Photo: Twitter/ITV London
They found her inside a plastic bag, wrapped in a towel, and placed on the floor beside a bench.
Ovidijus said:
“She looked a bit purple. She was very cold to touch. Her forehead and ears looked like they were a bit frosty, she was cold.”
He was glad they found her when they did, as she might not have stayed alive much longer. Rima believes she saved her own life with her cries.
One of the residents in the area said “the police came knocking at midnight to tell us what happened, they said she was just 30 minutes old when she was found and still had her umbilical cord.”
Some other residents said they would be going to drop some things off for her such as baby formula, milk, etc. at the Newham University Hospital where she is being taken care of.
There are growing concerns about the mother’s health, especially since they found no trail of her. The police in the area had sniffer dogs try to find a trail of blood, to locate the mother, but they found nothing.
Inspector Shane Clarke of the North East Command Unit has urged anyone with information that could aid the reunion of the baby and mother to come forward.
The temperature in East London when they found the baby was 1C (34F), which is quite cold for a grownup, talkless of a newborn.
A few days ago, an 18-year-old student, Gerald Belz, froze to death behind an academic building. His death was as a result of the dangerously low temperatures. There is no foul play suspected.
The weather has been cold and authorities have advised people to stay warm and remain indoors as much as possible.