A Baby Died After Being Eaten By Rats And We Are All So Damn Lucky

A baby died after being eaten by rats at a government run hospital in India. Nothing like a horrible, terrifying, ungodly sad baby death to put things into perspective for all of us parents who are silently bitching because our internet is loading our e-mail slow or our coffee is too hot to drink right away.

I’m guilty of this as much as any other parent. This morning my daughter enjoyed a $4 hot chocolate at Starbucks and everywhere else in the world kids were going to school hungry, living in squalor, and getting medical care at hospitals that most of us wouldn’t even take our pets to. Warning: The following link also takes you to the news story which contains a very graphic picture of the baby. It’s awful. Truly. Please be aware before you click this link.

From India Today.com:

 Sunil Chandravanshi, a resident of Bikramganj subdivision, said his child, who was born on Tuesday night, died a day after rats nibbled at his earlobe in the local government hospital.

He said his wife Parvati Devi had given birth to a boy around midnight. But the child was taken to the neonatal care centre by the nurses after he developed some complications. He said the nurses had told him that the baby needed to be put on oxygen immediately.

Chandravanshi alleged that none of his family members were allowed to see the child during the night. They were informed the next morning about the child’s death. He said when they went to see the child they were shocked to see that his right ear had been nibbled at and blood was oozing out of it.

The doctors at the hospital are claiming that the child was stillborn when it was brought in, but that still doesn’t explain why rats were able to eat the baby.

When I became a mom something happened to me. It wasn’t just that I felt this huge sense of love and responsibility to my own children, but that I also felt a much stronger connection to all the children. I don’t know if any of you can relate to this but motherhood changed my perspective on the world, on how stories like this affect me on a much deeper level, on how when I catch myself complaining about something utterly stupid in my daily life, I flash on things like this and feel a great sense of shame for not being more thankful every day.

If you are reading this, you probably had breakfast this morning, and your kids probably went to school wearing shoes, and if one of them needs to go to the doctor sometime this week you can be pretty sure that they won’t encounter any vermin at the doctor’s. I know a lot of us do what we can can to try and make the world a better place. We donate money, we volunteer, we care about issues that affect children not only in this countries, but in countries all over the world that we may never even get a chance to visit. It’s when we see a story like this that we not only hold our children a little closer and say a small thanks of gratitude, but that we realize how truly lucky we are.

(Photo: Jan S. / Shutterstock.com)

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