Smiles of joy and happiness radiated from the face of Kerwin Dicken (35), a reaction unit officer from Lazer 911, when he was able to hold the newborn baby he found in the bush on Tuesday night.
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‘Lazer Boy’ as he has now been fondly nicknamed by Officer Dicken, had reportedly been lying in the bush among rocks and broken glass for three days.
The healthy, beautiful baby boy weighing 3.67kgs, is now in the caring hands of the nurses at Port Shepstone Regional Hospital.
At about 10.30pm, Officer Dicken was on duty when he was notified by Lazer’s control room that a client, living on Sugar Mill Road near the Umzimkhulu River, was hearing some noises in the back of his yard.
Officer Dicken arrived at the client’s house and it was established the client had been hearing a faint cry, believed to be a cat or a baby, in the dense bushes.
“We take every call seriously and without the community’s phoning us we wouldn’t have known about it,” he said.
After extensively searching the bushes with the client, they found nothing.
“The baby would make a noise and then be quiet for a while, so it was difficult to establish if it was a baby,” said Officer Dicken.
But, when he was about to leave he heard a faint cry again and traced it to the thick bushes between the client’s house and his neighbour.
Officer Dicken and the client together drove to the neighbour’s house. He knocked on the door, which was answered by Keaton Uys (25). Officer Dicken told him he needed to search the back of his yard, as he had heard a baby crying.
Keaton said he had been hearing a strange noise since Sunday and his two Jack Russells, Lolly and Max, had kept running into the bush.
“When Officer Dicken told me he had to search my yard as he had heard a crying baby, I suddenly clicked,” said Keaton.
Officer Dicken searched the bushes at the back of Keaton’s house and discovered a newborn baby naked, face down and still with its umbilical cord.
“My adrenaline immediately kicked in and I climbed over a high bank to get to where the noise was coming from, I was so shocked when I saw the child, my first response was that I had to get this baby to hospital. The baby was shivering, its skin and mouth were blue. It was a miracle the child was found alive.”
Keaton gave Officer Dicken a blanket and he quickly wrapped the baby and got him to drive his van to Port Shepstone Regional Hospital while he held the baby.
“He was quiet in the van, just making a few baby noises and sucking his thumb. It was as if he felt relieved that someone had finally helped him. It was probably the first time he had been picked up. This innocent baby did nothing to deserve this,” said Officer Dicken.
“If the mother had held the baby, she would have felt it was wrong to abandon it. I don’t understand how she could have done it,” he added.
“I couldn’t believe that a baby was in my backyard. I am so shocked, I actually have no words. The baby was clean when it was found and I think Lolly and Max could have been looking after him by licking him clean, as they kept venturing into the bush,” said Keaton.
The baby’s eye was swollen and he had scratches on both his face and body.
When the Herald visited the place where the baby was found, it appeared that, from where the mother had given birth, it had rolled several metres down a rocky bank.
Police spokesman, Captain Petros Mpinge confirmed a case of concealment of birth had been opened.
“The mother of the child has not been located and police are busy investigating the matter. The motive for abandoning the child is unknown at this stage,” he said.
Phumza Morai, public relations officer of Port Shepstone Regional Hospital, said the baby would later be handed over to a social worker, but wished people would talk to someone about their problems, and not throw their babies in the bush. “It’s very sad,” she added.
Officer Dicken hoped the baby would be placed in a good home, make something of his life and be taught that life is precious and not to treat human beings like trash, as his mother had done.
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