Chicago, IL-Newbown baby found alive on top of garbage can in alley

CHICAGO-Police said a newborn baby boy was found alive on top of a garbage can in the Hermosa neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

Police said the baby was found in an alley on the 1700 block of North Keystone Avenue around 4 p.m. on top of a garbage can and wrapped in a blanket.

According to Chicago fire officials, people who lived nearby heard the baby crying, went to the alley and found the child. The people who found him, a woman and her daughter, then took the baby to a fire station on the 1700 block of North Pulaski Avenue.

The baby was just hours old and still had an umbilical cord attached. The cord was not clamped, and the baby was bleeding when he was found.

A fire department spokesman said when the baby was brought to the station he was “blue, unresponsive, no pulse.” They shocked the baby back to life. Two paramedics performed CPR while transporting the newborn to Norwegian American Hospital where he was stabilized.

"I don't know what it's like to have a child, be pregnant, and be in some horrible circumstances where you are driven to do something like this. It almost sounds diabolical," Patrick Fitzmaurice, paramedics field chief, said. "But come to us, call 911. We would've taken the baby to one hospital and her to another hospital. We won't judge. Don't leave your baby in an alley. Come to a firehouse. Leave the baby there. Give the kid a chance."

The baby boy remains in critical condition at Lurie Children's Hospital and is said to be steadily improving.

Authorities are searching for the child's mother to see if she is OK, and police say she may face charges.