Australian baby survives as many as 5 days in a drain

Australian baby survives as many as 5 days in a drain
(Image credit: iStock)

An Australian baby was allegedly abandoned for as many as five days before he was found, but he lived through the isolation.

The Australian reports that cyclists noticed the baby boy while biking through Sydney on Sunday. Police charged the baby's mother with attempted murder, saying she left him in a drain on Tuesday morning after 30 hours of labor.

Westmead Children's Hospital, where the infant was treated, said that the child was near death but is now recovering and is in stable condition. After his release from the hospital, he will be sent to foster care.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"In 100,000 other cases, the child would never have been found by chance the way he was," a Westmead staff member said in a statement. "He shouldn't, on the balance of probabilities, have made it out of that drain. But he did."

Explore More

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.