A popular idiom goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Or in this case, “one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure,” for that’s quite literally what Paula Andrews found in a trash compactor in Everett, Washington where she worked.
The maintenance supervisor was just doing her job when, on the way to dispose a garbage bag, she heard faint cries.
At first she didn’t know where it was coming from, or if it was a doll making the sounds. Eventually she made up her mind and went inside the compactor.
Newborn dumped in trash
“She must have gone through about 2½ feet of garbage—probably about 20 garbage bags—and discovers this brand new, newborn child there,” her boyfriend, Jeff Meyers, told NBC affiliate KING.
“She kind of jumped out of the garbage compactor, went to her knees crying and said, ‘I can’t believe it’s a real baby. I can’t believe somebody had done this.’”
He was also thankful that his girlfriend didn’t push the button.
“Had that baby not cried one second before she hit that button, we’d be out here for a much worse story,” he added.
According to reports, the baby was still covered in blood and that the umbilical cord was still attached.
“There is no indication when or why the newborn was left in the dumpster,” Officer Aaron Snell, a public information officer with the Everett Police Department, told The Washington Post.
“We are still asking the public to help us by providing any information they have.”
In certain states, there is a law which gives mothers a grace period of 72 hours to leave unwanted babies at emergency rooms and fire stations with no questions and changes filed.
Washington is one of these states.
Jeff says that the unexpected arrival of the baby in their lives was a blessing and a thing of beauty.
“We feel it’s a miracle,” he told KING. “It happened on Good Friday. I get emotional. I get emotional when I talk about it.”
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