What’s the most unusual situation you’ve ever found yourself in?
You can probably name a few. Humans are unpredictable, and whenever you’re in a public place, you can never quite know what might happen.
One restaurant customer received more than what she asked for when she was handed a baby by a stranger.
Of all the unexpected things to happen, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever find yourself being on the receiving end of somebody else’s baby.
But that’s exactly what happened to Alease Scott at the El Patron restaurant in Jersey City, when a teenager walked in with a newborn, gave the baby away, then left.
Footage of the incident was captured on CCTV and shared by local news crews.
It shows a young girl, who was later confirmed as the baby’s 14-year-old mom, walking up to the restaurant’s counter.
She then claimed that she found the baby girl, before handing her over to Alease, who approached her table, and running away.
It’s a deeply upsetting story, as there is certainly more to this than what’s on the surface.
Perhaps the young girl had secretly given birth, or perhaps she simply felt overwhelmed at the idea of being a mom at such a young age.
There is support out there for teenage moms, but many people simply don’t know that it’s available.
Whatever the case here, it’s lucky that the girl found the right people to entrust her baby to.
Alease and her boyfriend Walter Cocca, who were eating lunch when the teen came into the restaurant, didn’t hesitate to help.
Telling the story to ABC7, she recalled:
“I said, ‘Do you mind if I check the baby’s vitals?’ She readily handed the baby over to me so my focus went right onto the baby.”
It was at that moment that the teenager walked out, leaving Alease to look after the newborn girl, who still had part of the umbilical cord attached.
After noticing that the baby was struggling to breathe, Alease called the police.
Alease herself has CPR and first aid training, so she was prepared to do everything she could if worst came to worst.
But thankfully, it didn’t come to that. Police arrived not long after with the medical gear needed for the newborn.
Alease recalled:
“Once I applied the oxygen mask to the baby, all of a sudden we heard the most beautiful cry and the baby started moving. She slightly opened up her eyes, and then she closed her eyes, but the sweetest thing was when she got hungry, and she was trying to suckle on the oxygen mask. So we knew she was okay after that.”
Police were able to track down the teen mother.
She’s reportedly in good health, and so is her baby girl.
At the moment, the 14-year-old mom isn’t facing any charges. As for her baby, she’ll be put up for adoption.
Not all of us know about the Safe Haven law, which New Jersey and many other states have in place.
This law means that, as a parent of a guardian of a newborn, you can leave the child at a hospital, police station or fire station without facing criminal charges.
Alease was just happy to have been there to help the young girl, who she could see was “desperate”.
You can watch video footage of the young mom dropping off her baby just below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
