HONOLULU (KHON2) — A newborn baby dumped in the trash by its mother according to a witness. It happened Saturday night in the Kahala area. A good samaritan, who asked not to be identified, was in the right place at the right time and helped get the infant to safety.
“It felt like a dream almost, a scary dream, like a nightmare,” the good samaritan said.
He’s still processing having to pull the baby out of the garbage.
“It was very sad, just very sad moment,” he added. “That’s definitely scary to think about what would have happened if I wasn’t here.”
According to the witness, it happened around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night. He was home alone when he heard a woman screaming outside.
“Then got up and looked out the window. And then was shocked to see what I was seeing at first,” he said. “Right over here, across the street, I witnessed a homeless lady giving birth to a child so I immediately picked up my phone called 911.”
But he wasn’t prepared for what he said he saw her do next.
He said the mother gave birth to the child on the sidewalk, walked across the street to this garbage can, put the baby inside the trash and then walked off.
“Disbelief really,” he said. “Just in the moment I was in shock a little bit. Really no words.”
But he immediately ran outside to help the infant.
“I was able to just grab it out of the top of the trash and it didn’t look like it was really injured or anything,” he explained. “It was crying when I took it out of the dumpster, which is a good sign.”
He said he was overcome with emotion as he stood there alone holding the baby girl in his arms waiting for the ambulance.
“I broke down a little bit and started crying because I didn’t know how someone could just leave their kid like that,” he said.
As horrible as the situation was, there is a silver lining.
“The last thing I heard the baby was in stable condition,” he explained. “I’m grateful to God that I was here home when this all happened so that I was able to get the kid in time to save its life. It could have turned out very different if I didn’t hear the screams and I wasn’t home.”
According to police, the mother was not located and a child abandonment case has been opened.