The humble rescuers of the newborn baby found at the bottom of a Sydney stormwater drain have vowed to do all they can for their little miracle mate.
Ex-military man, David Otte, has seen some horrific things in his time. But nothing prepared him, or his daughter Hayley, for their heartbreaking discovery of a newborn baby found at the bottom of a Sydney stormwater drain.
“We wanted to believe someone was playing a practical joke and had thrown a tape recorder down there,” says David. But his heart told him otherwise.
It’s alleged the tiny baby boy was pushed by his mother down a crack in the top of a drain only hours after being born, near the M7 motorway in Quakers Hill.
Somehow surviving a horrifying 2.4 metre fall onto the concrete beneath, cushioned only by his hospital blanket, he would remain there for five long days alone.
It wasn’t until his sixth day of life the David and Hayley passed by and saw two men staring at a spot in the grass. They waved down David and Hayley, alerting them to what they believed was the sound of kittens trapped in the drain.
Hayley leant down over the waterway. “Hello… hello?” she yelled into the dark crevice.
It was then that they heard a sound they’d never forget -a baby’s cry echoed out of the dark.
Employing his military training to stay calm in a crisis, David called triple zero as the team of four tried to lift the lid off the child’s tomb. But they were no match for the 200kg concrete slab.
Once police officers arrived though, together they managed to shift it. The bystanders though remained terrified for the boy. “He hadn’t moved… there was no more screaming,” reflects David.
Related: Mother charged after miracle baby survives six days in drain
Light spilled into the deep pit, illuminating the baby’s tiny body as it lay in the corner. His feet were against the wall and his head turned to the side.
A feeling of “horrifying grief” swept over David, as he thought of his own children.
A detective cradled the tiny bub in his arms. “He had his little finger in the officer’s mouth, and we could see the bub sucking,” says David. It wasn’t much of a response, but it was a sign he might still be able to make it.
“He looked worn out but he looked good,” recalls Hayley. “He didn’t open his eyes, and he had these beautiful long eyelashes,” she adds adoringly.
His rescuers have no doubt had he not been found, the newborn would’ve passed away, perhaps even by nightfall, with high temperatures in the area reaching close to 40 degrees.
“If he’d somehow survived Sunday, he definitely wouldn’t have survived Monday because it poured down and those drains were full of water,” says David.
Related: Baby boy dumped down drain to be named by his mother
The pair have since dropped a care package to the hospital containing three sets of clothes, a towel set, a blanket and a washer.
“Every time I’m alone, I think about it,” says Hayley. “A picture of when they first opened the drain pops straight into my brain … that sound of the baby crying, it’s just imprinted in my mind.”
“I really want to be able to see this kid as he gets older, even if it’s just once a year,” says a smitten Hayley.
“I want him to feel love”.
Read the full story of heroic rescuers David and Hayley only in Woman’s Day, on sale 1st December.
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