Awww! This cute baby was born on a refugee rescue boat (photos)
A sweet little baby was born on a ship rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. Help had come for thousands of migrants taken by smugglers from Libya and the baby's mother was part of those rescued.
The baby's mother, Taiwo, spent about eight hours in labor while on water before she delivered the healthy child. The tiny bundle of joy was taken to the hospital after docking in Sicily. Crew members of the ship named the child Mercy, they described her as being perfect.
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“It wasn't an easy birth,” said midwife Elizabeth Ramlow, following the surprise delivery on Tuesday morning.
“I don't know how her mother was able step on that raft in Libya...she must have felt she had no choice.”
The healthy baby was one of the 947 men, women and children taken to safety after a hectic weekend that saw more than 3,000 people rescued on one day between Libya and Italy.
An MSF doctor on the ship, Conor Kenny, said rescuers feared the quality of unseaworthy crafts used by Libyan smugglers, this placed those on board in greater danger.
He also said the ship would go back to the rescue zone as soon as possible since they got the report that at least 40 people were killed when a boat capsized over the weekend.
“The figures have gone up since January and I see no reason why they shouldn’t continue to rise,” Dr Kenny added.
“Within the medical clinic the patients have been victims of torture or sexual violence while in Libya – in detention, by their employers or police or armed gangs as well.”
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"You simply don’t know what you’ll find with each boat,” he added, saying approaching rescuers routinely check for refugees suffocated at the bottom of boats.
“It’s a fine line between life and death in the Mediterranean."
“Weeks ago we came across boat at 2am with people suffering from hypothermia. Had they been found a few hours later, at least eight of them would have died.”
About 20,000 migrants have gone into Italy by sea according to the report given by UN Refugee Agency. Of this amount, about 587 have died in the process.
If you are a huge fan of children, you would be glad with what Samuel Ajibola, popularly known as Spiff, has to say about them:
Source: Legit.ng
