Facebook Prayer Request For Baby Found in the Bin
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
Message circulating via Facebook asks users to say a prayer for a baby that was found in a bin and was being eaten by ants.
Everybody say a prayer for a baby they found in the bin and was being eaten by ants. If yu have a heart pass it on
What the fact-checkers found
The message apparently refers to the real case of a newborn baby that was found on a rubbish dump in Bloemfontein, South Africa in September 2011. The baby was bitten by ants while lying at the dump. A subsequent news report indicates that the baby was recovering well.
This widely circulated Facebook post asks users to offer a prayer for a baby found in a bin. According to the message, the baby was being eaten by ants. The post includes a photograph of the ant-bitten baby being treated in a hospital.
The message does not include any information about where the baby was found or about his current condition. Some commentators have suggested that the message may be a hoax.
However, the prayer request is apparently derived from a real case in which a newborn baby was found wrapped in a blanket at a rubbish dump in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The baby was bitten by ants while lying at the dump. A September 26, 2011 article about the case posted on News24.com notes :
Workers at an informal rubbish dump near the JB Mafora settlement discovered the baby on Saturday afternoon and phoned emergency services.
ER24 paramedics found the baby boy with its umbilical cord still attached to the placenta. He was hypothermic and struggling to breathe.
Appelgryn said the baby had bite marks on his skin from ants while he was lying at the dump.
The report indicates that the baby, named Caleb Hope, was recovering well in hospital. The Shiloh Zoe Hope Foundation, a non-profit organisation that offered free help to unwanted babies and their mothers, was collaborating with the department of social services to find Caleb a safe place to live after he left the hospital.
Police investigated the case. However, it remains unclear who left baby Caleb at the dump or why he was discarded in such a way.
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