A heartbreaking video recorded the moment when sanitary employees saved a deserted newborn after it had fallen from a garbage bag in a street in Rio de Janeiro.
Now one of the street cleaners, who is already the father of two, wants to adopt the baby girl.
Samuel Santos told the Brazilian news output G1 that his crew was removing waste in the early hours of Tuesday on a road that connected the Noord -Rio de Janeiro neighbors of Quintino and Cascadura when he turned a waste in the truck.
Santos ran back to the garbage truck when he saw what he thought a new 'doll' was wrapped in a blanket and decided to pick it up as a gift for his daughter.
The cleaner was shocked when he touched one of the hands and made the baby cry.
Anderson Nunes, who has been working for the sanitation company for 16 years, said they were being moved by knowing that they had just saved the girl's life.
“We called the baby Vitória … Let's hope they find her family,” Nunes said the outlet. “If they do that, I will visit them, whatever happens.”
Santos visited the baby girl in Herculano Pinheiro Maternity Hospital, where she is in a stable state.
Samuel Santos, who works for a sanitation company in Rio de Janeiro, removed waste from a street when a newborn girl fell from a garbage bag. The father of two now wants to adopt the baby
Samuel Santos said he wants to adopt the newborn girl so that he “can tell the story of how she was found, so that she doesn't get lost in the world”
He and his wife take the necessary steps to offer the baby a loving home.
Their children, 10 and 14 years old, even started putting a room aside for her.
“I told them to wait, there is a lot of work to do,” said Santos.
Santos' wife initially thought they could adopt the child on the spot.
“I had to tell her that she couldn't take her home without going through the courts,” he said.
For now, Santos and his family will have to let the process come out before they can apply for adoption.
A newborn girl was abandoned in a garbage bag and saved by streets in Rio de Janeiro. The baby fell to the ground and was picked up by one of the workers who confused her with a doll before taking one of the hands and let her cry. The child recovers in the hospital
Samuel Santos (left) and Anderson Nunes (right) save a newborn baby who was abandoned and called her Vitória
The child and youth court of Rio de Janeiro will have to wait until the baby is healthy enough to be fired and placed at a foster care unit.
Then it must detect the parents of the child and immediate family members. If no one comes to the fore or the baby is rejected, it will be set up for adoption.
“Due to legal determination, before a child or adolescent is referred to adoption, it is necessary to exhaust the possibilities of integrating the family,” the court said according to G1.
“I want to tell the story how she was found so that she doesn't get lost in the world,” said Santos. “But for now I'm going to wait until all procedures are completed before the claim is submitted.”
