The unthinkable just happened. An unwanted baby was literally flushed down the toilet in the province of Zhejiang. Residents reportedly heard the infant crying. But in a happy twist, he was rescued from the four-inch sewage pipe and is recovering in a local hospital.
According to an article in the Telegraph, the whole operation took firefighters and doctors more than two hours to carefully saw into the pipe, and painstakingly remove the baby whose placenta was still attached.
Although he suffered some cuts to his limbs and face, the five-pounder is incredibly in stable condition. The (presumably) parent who abandoned him is being sought for attempted murder.
While the practice of abandonment isn't uncommon in China, it is usually females who are unwanted.
"The parents who did this have hearts even filthier than that sewage pipe," wrote one user on the country's social media site Sina Weibo.
But this harrowing story points to a larger problem; maybe China needs safe places in every province, where parents can deposit children they are unable—or unwilling—to care for.
Printer-friendly version