VIDEO: Emotional farewell to ‘sweetest baby’

THE aunt and uncle of a baby girl abandoned at Dora Nginza Hospital last month burst into tears as they scooped her up in their arms after they were awarded custody on Tuesday afternoon (12/04/16).

“Her name means ‘beauty and grace’,” her uncle, who came from the Northern Cape to fetch her, said.

“This is my duty as an uncle, but we have so much love for her.”

The little girl was born on the streets on March 13 and later taken to the hospital by ambulance.

She was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, where her mother left her.

With the help of police, the baby’s mother was later found in a bar. She was briefly held in a place of safety, but was released by prosecutors who ruled that it was not a crime to abandon a baby at a hospital.

The baby's uncle, 29,  said he was desperate to find his sister, whom he had not seen for three years.

It was an emotional farewell for the nurses who had been looking after the baby as they held her one last time, wrapped her in a pink polka dot blanket and said goodbye.

“She is the sweetest baby,” nurse Amelia Horne said.

The baby's uncle said his family was incredibly grateful for the love and generosity of The Herald’s readers and Project Sparkle members who sent bags and boxes full of gifts for the baby.

“We are regarding her birth as a blessing. Thank you for being a blessing to her until we arrived,” he said.

His wife said they also had a 10-month-old baby at home and would raise the girls as sisters.

Project Sparkle is a volunteer group working in state hospitals to support state doctors and nurses and help improve conditions for patients.

The family was flown to Port Elizabeth and back to Johannesburg by Mango Airlines.

Mango spokesman Hein Kaiser said they were delighted to have helped in bringing the baby home to her family.

“After all, Mango is in the business of bringing people together,” he said.

They were also happy for the opportunity to reaffirm their support for Project Sparkle.

Dora Nginza Hospital social worker Pamela Rubushe said she was delighted that this case had had a happy ending.