It was a heart breaking call for ER24 paramedics who responded to the central business district in Bloemfontein this evening. An eight month old baby girl was found alone in the bathroom of a flat. It is believed that neighbours alerted the police to the child who appeared malnourished, mildly dehydrated, and had some form of underlying medical condition.
The neighbours were saying that the mother of the child had left for some reason, and had entrusted the child's care to a friend of hers. They also said that the woman had been neglecting the child for some time now. This afternoon, they had threatened the woman with phoning the police and child social services, and the woman then allegedly fled, leaving the child alone in the bathroom to fend for herself.
One of the ER24 paramedics put a small amount of sugar gel on his finger for her, because it was clear that the child's blood sugar level was very low. He said that she sucked so hard on the sugar that she almost sucked his finger clean off.
They transported the baby to a nearby provincial hospital for further assessment and monitoring. She was however in a stable condition when she was handed over to hospital staff. The police were also on scene and were gathering evidence to locate the two women for questioning regarding the baby's condition.
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