A Newborn Baby Was Abandoned In A Box In Alaska & His Mom Left A Heartbreaking Note
"Please take me and find me a loving family," the note read.
A woman found a newborn baby abandoned in a cardboard box in Alaska on New Year's Eve, along with a hand-written note asking for him to go to a good home.
Local resident Roxy Lane found the baby at an intersection in the city of Fairbanks around 2 p.m. on December 31, according to a police press release.
"Today I saved a baby," Lane wrote in a Facebook post about the incident.
Police said it seems as though the baby had only just been abandoned when Lane found him. He was sent to the hospital to be checked out, and the little boy "was found to be in good health," police said.
The baby was found along with a note from his mother, which explained that the family could not take adequate care of the child, so they decided to let go of him.
He was found amongst rows of mailboxes and was nestled under a pile of blankets, reported the Anchorage Daily News.
"Please help me!!!" the note read, as though written from the baby's perspective.
The note then explained that the baby had been born earlier that day and was 12 weeks premature.
"My parents and grandparents don't have food or money to raise me. They NEVER wanted to do this to me," continued the note. "My mom is so sad to do this. Please take me and find me a LOVING FAMILY."
The note ended by stating that the baby's name is Teshawn.
When the baby was found, it was about 1 F (-17 C), but it felt like -12 F (-24 C) with windchill.
Lane posted about the experience on her Facebook along with a video of the note and the baby but it has since been deleted.
She mentioned the safe haven law of Alaska, which allows parents to surrender a newborn baby that's younger than 21 days to law enforcement officers, firefighters or health care workers.
"There is always a safer, humane choice to surrender a baby, and you will not get in trouble or even have to answer any difficult questions," said Lane in the post.
Lane wished the anonymous mother well and hoped that she would receive the help she may need.
"Please, someone knows this new mom, check on her! She might be in a desperate situation, feeling abandoned herself. We don't know, there could be a whole backstory here behind closed doors," continued the post.
"Clearly, someone in our community felt so lost and hopeless that they made probably the hardest choice of their lives to leave that innocent life on the side of the road with nothing but some blankets and a name."