Newborn baby found languishing in drawer of abandoned dresser in Chicago alley

The baby narrowly avoided being swept up in garbage collection later that day

A newborn baby was discovered languishing in a discarded set of drawers in 90-degree heat in an alley in Chicago, narrowly avoiding being picked up by garbage trucks later that morning.

A local woman, who spoke with media anonymously, said she discovered the boy, who’s now recovering at a nearby hospital in good condition, when she noticed a set of old furniture she thought she might be able to recycle. Inside the set of drawers, she saw the boy’s foot.

“I put my finger on the little foot, to just to see he was moving,” the woman told NBC Chicago. "Every time I think about the little details, it just makes me mad," she added. "So I’m just gonna focus on the miracle that I was there, and that everybody showed up on time because I was shaking. I was shaking so bad.”

Police have not publicly released the identity of the child, who was discovered wrapped in a rosary with vomit in his mouth around 8.13am on the city’s Northwest side. Once the woman called 911, first responders arrived and took the baby to Lurie Children’s Hospital in good condition.

"It’s very heartbreaking to hear something like that," neighbourhood resident Candy Pittner told ABC7 Chicago. "I don’t get it. I really don’t because you have so many other places, you could have dropped it at a hospital...firehouse, anywhere, church. You could have even rang my doorbell, I would have taken the baby and left. Anything but leaving it in that drawer in the heat, 100-degree weather.”

In 2001, Illinois passed its Safe Haven Law, which allows parents up to 30 days to hand their newborns over into the arms of qualified police, fire, or medical personnel, with no questions asked.

The Independent has reached out to the Chicago Police Department for further comment.