South Africans shocked to find naked baby alive in a six feet storm drain

A newborn baby has beaten the odds to survive after being abandoned naked six feet underground in a stormwater drain in South Africa.

Being described as a ‘miracle’ by many, the baby was found by a dog walker, Charmaine Keevy, 63, in Port Elizabeth after her dog started barking loudly at the gutter.

Keevy said she could hear a noise from deep inside the drain which she initially thought was a cat. But after getting on her hands and knees, she realized that the sound was from a baby.

She subsequently sought help from a passing car and together with the driver, used a steel bar from his car to open up the drain.

The 60-year-old driver, Cornie Viljoen, 60, dropped down inside and found the baby close to a colony of biting red ants with the umbilical cord still attached.

They called paramedics who arrived on time to treat the baby at the scene for hypothermia and she was rushed to the Dora Nginza Hospital for emergency treatment.

The baby who weighed in at 3.09kg is now a celebrity at the baby ward and is being called Grace April by hospital staff.

Keevy who found the baby said: “I honestly believe I was meant to find that baby by God as I usually take a different route on my dog walk but for some reason went another way.”

“I cannot help but feel that there is some sort of a plan and a purpose for that little girls’ life – it is a miracle without a doubt,” she was quoted by news site Mail Onlne.

Police are currently trying to trace the mother of the baby while a case of concealment of birth and child abandonment is under investigation