The story of the baby admitted to Santa Maria Hospital with a plastic bag as a diaper and cigarette marks

Santa Maria Hospital welcomed a five-month-old baby left by his biological parents to a neighboring couple in Lisbon, wrapped in a plastic bag that replaced his diaper. The baby had the mark of a cigarette burn “which almost blinded him”.

The case occurred an indeterminate amount of time ago and was only now disclosed by the Hospital de Santa Maria, in a Facebook post, after the case was presented by the Child Support Institute, at a conference held as part of the month for the prevention of abuse. in the childhood. At issue is the work carried out by the Support Center for Children and Young People at Santa Maria Hospital, which welcomed the baby “Nuno”, a fictitious name, the son of a “drug-addicted father and a mother who was away to prostitute herself”.

“Nuno was left by his biological parents to a neighboring couple wrapped in a plastic bag that replaced his diaper. He had a stain under his left eye, the mark of a cigarette burn that almost blinded him. He was only five months old”, can read the message left on Facebook by the Santa Maria Local Health Unit.

The work of the Children and Young People Support Center at Santa Maria Hospital allowed, as can be seen in the same publication, the family that welcomed the baby to find support to move forward in the process that would guarantee his custody and safety.

“Today, Nuno lives with his new parents, who exchanged his plastic bag for a diaper and his cigarette butt burns for love,” they wrote.

Created in 1990, the NACJ of Santa Maria “was a pioneer” in Portugal. In 2023, 258 cases were reported to this body.