A fire department in northern Indiana has become what is believed to be the first place in the country to save a life with a baby box.
According to Fox 32, Fire Chief Mick Pawlick’s adrenaline was flowing when he realized this wasn’t just another false alarm with their new baby box.
When he checked this time, he saw “this sweatshirt and a little bitty arm, then, boy, the adrenaline sets in.”
The department is in LaPorte County, Indiana. The rescue happened Tuesday night. “Open it up and that baby just looks me right in the eyes,” Pawlick described to local news.
The baby box is about as simple as it sounds. Despite getting flak for creating the little heated drop box, they stuck with it and it appears to have paid off. When the chief opened the box, there lay a beautiful newborn baby girl, still not cleaned up from what was evidently a very recent birth, perhaps only hours old.
The box was installed at The Coolspring Township Volunteer Fire Department about a year and a half ago, and there’s only 2 like it in the entire area. The idea behind the box is to save lives by allowing a mom who is afraid to leave a child, no questions asked.
The departement was ecstatic. Assistant chief Warren Smith had nothing but praise for this unnamed mom. According to Fox 32:
“She stepped up to the plate and did the right thing and putting the baby in the baby box instead of us finding the baby in a ditch, the woods or a dumpster like we hear so many horrible stories,” said assistant fire chief Warren Smith.
Firefighters say they’ve gotten a lot of flak for the baby box, even threats. but like the other equipment here, they say this is another tool to save lives.
“I believe what we did last night was something special. we saved a baby’s life,” Smith said.
“That box ain’t there to judge people, we’re going to hear good and bad about this but the way I see it it’s all good. There was nothing bad done here,” Pawlick said.
The baby is doing just fine, and they’ve grown quite attached to the little one. So much so that they’ve even said they’d do more than just save her life – they’re even willing to become family. In fact, they already feel that way. Pawlick told local news outlets “Him and I were like proud papas in the back of this ambulance,” referring to the assistant chief, whom each say they’d adopt.
They’ve already got a name for her: “Baby Hope.”