‘It was kind of a shock’ Newborn baby found alive in a box on the side of road in Florida

A spokesperson with St. Johns County Fire Rescue said the days-old baby was found on the side of Silverleaf Parkway around 1:44 p.m. Friday.

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A newborn baby was found alive in a box on the side of a busy St. Johns County road Friday afternoon, and is now in the hospital recovering, according to a spokesperson with St. Johns County Fire Rescue.

St. Johns County Fire Rescue spokesman Chris Naff said a woman found the presumed days-old baby crying in a box on the side of Silverleaf Parkway in the Silverleaf area of St. Johns County around 1:44 p.m. Friday.

She took the baby to St. Johns County fire station 17, where firefighters evaluated the infant and took it to Wolfson Children’s Hospital in St. Johns County. 

The agency did not know how long the baby was there, Naff said.

Naff said the baby is currently stable at the hospital, and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office is trying to track down the parents of the baby.

“It was kind of a shock,” he added. ” … A lot of the guys are parents, so they just go into parent-mode, taking care of the kid.”

Naff said this is the first time he’s seen something like this happen in his 21 years with the agency. He said he was thankful a passerby notified Fire Rescue about the baby in the box.

“This baby is alive because of that person right now. We really need to give them some credit. Luckily, the baby is doing all right at the hospital and doing fine.”

Fire stations and hospitals are Safe Havens, meaning a person can drop off a infant up to 30 days old off with no questions asked, Naff said. However, Naff said the sheriff’s office would likely factor that the baby was not left at a Safe Haven location.

“We are a Safe Haven. Bring (the baby) to us, we’ll take care of it,” Naff said. “There’s no charges, there’s no legal liability or anything like that.”

The Safe Haven protocol is to take the baby to a hospital and notify the sheriff’s office, Naff said.

RELATED: Newborn baby found wrapped in blanket in Palatka yard

Original News Source