Rescuer describes how he saved baby from ant-infested drain

While there was a massive outpouring of sympathy yesterday for the abandoned baby who was rescued from a stormwater drain, with offers of clothing and gifts streaming in, the barely two-day-old infant is still in a serious condition and clinging to life.

Yesterday, one of her rescuers described how he climbed down the two-metre-deep duct in Lorraine – which was infested by a colony of red ants that bit his legs – and had to feel his away around for the crying newborn.

A hugely relieved Cornie Viljoen – who had been driving past and was flagged down by the woman who first heard the baby’s cries – eventually managed to pick her up carefully and cradle her in his arms.

The baby girl has developed a respiratory infection and struggled to breathe for some time at Dora Nginza Hospital yesterday.

Social worker Pamela Rubushe, who is looking for the infant’s relatives, said the baby was very ill.

“She was doing well yesterday morning, but was struggling to breathe later and was sent for tests. She is a very quiet child.”

Rubushe said offers of gifts, clothes and blankets had been flooding in from people keen to help the baby.

She asked them to give her a chance to get a little better first.

Health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the little girl had developed an infection due to exposure.

“She was struggling to breathe but was doing better by the late afternoon,” he said.

Kupelo said doctors were doing their utmost to save the baby’s life.

She was discovered in the drain in Sedan Avenue on Tuesday morning.

Charmaine Keevy, 63, who was walking her dog and first heard the infant’s cries, flagged down Viljoen, who helped lift the heavy cement drain covers to rescue the newborn.

Viljoen, 60, a grandfather of three, said he usually dropped his wife off in Montmedy Road and then returned to his home office in Theescombe.

“I usually make a U-turn,” he said.

“On Tuesday, I thought I would drive along Sedan Avenue. I never do that. When I saw the woman trying to stop me, I thought, ‘What a cheek to try and stop me just so that she and the dog can cross the road’.”

However, Viljoen soon realised there was something wrong.

“She said she had heard something cry in the drain. ‘It could be a cat,’ she said, ‘but a cat doesn’t sob’.

“I took a steel bar from the car to open the drain cover.

“It was a deep drain. I would guess more than two metres.

“When I got into the hole, it [the opening] was higher than my head,” he said.

“When I saw the baby, I realised that this was a crime scene. I took a picture and handed my phone to Charmaine.

“The opening was so narrow that I had to go down on my knees. I couldn’t bend down.

“I was feeling for the baby. I got hold of a foot.

“I didn’t know if she was injured, so I tried to pick her up very carefully and very slowly. There was a colony of red ants in that drain. They were biting me.

“She was so small. I just wanted to hold her for a while but I knew she needed help.

“It was cold in there,” he said.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the only way the baby could have been placed in the drain was by removing the cement covers.

“There is a possibility that the person may have come from outside the area and placed the child there.”

Naidu said the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Crimes Unit had taken over the investigation.

“We are appealing to the public to assist us in tracing the mother of the child.”

She said the investigating officer, Detective Warrant Officer Grant Measures, could be contacted with any information and that the callers could remain anonymous.

Measures can be reached on 072-732-4220.