THE soldiers had just cornered five Iraqi terror suspects in a house in Basra, southern Iraq. They began to search for weapons and quickly found a 90cm-long padlocked metal box. Gingerly they opened the box. Inside were rocket-propelled grenade launchers, guns and ammunition. Incredibly, the box also contained a baby girl. But the infant was no longer breathing. Two of the young British troopers desperately began giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
one of the benefits of being a westerner. You get taught technical, scientific things like FIRST AID instead of just being able to recite a koran and fire an RPG
For several agonising minutes the soldiers of Anzio Company thought they had arrived too late. Then the girl squeezed Private Damien Kenny’s finger – and breathed... "It’s clear that the intervention of my soldiers saved this baby’s life," Anzio Company commander Major Paul Davies said.
| They stuck here in a stinkin' weapons container? No... No... I'm not going to express my opinion. I always try to refrain from cursing on this blog... |
Four men from the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment had chased the armed Iraqis into a house in the Al Jubaylah area of Basra early yesterday. The five Iraqis were suspected of carrying out the ambulance bombing last week that killed British Captain David Jones and had been discovered trying to destroy the city’s water treatment plant. They were arrested and then the search for weapons and explosives began. Pte Kenny, 18, and Private Jonathan Hunt, 21, discovered a large dirty white bag. Inside they found several bundles of cash and the padlocked box. "They were very careful with the box because they suspected it contained weapons and explosives," Squadron Leader Lynda Sawers, at the British HQ in Basra, said. "It was the normal sort of box in which rifles and guns are stored." The soldiers slowly opened the box to discover the little girl lying alongside guns and knives.
"Wot the 'ell is this?"
"Ummm... It's my lunch, effendi!" |
It is thought she had been inside for at least 10 minutes. The two privates, who were both trained in first aid, immediately began to attempt resuscitation. "At that time, the baby was not alive, she had stopped breathing," Squadron Leader Sawers said. Pte Kenny said: "We couldn’t believe it when we saw it was a baby. We had to try something. We thought she would not recover until I felt her squeeze my finger." The soldiers also found the child’s mother. She could not tell why her baby – born prematurely two days before – was dumped in the box.
well, I’d expect her to have SOMETHING to say about the situation!
She said her daughter did not have a name so Anzio Company named her Rose after the red rose of the Lancashire Regiment.
oh i see. It was only a baby girl. If it were a baby boy, it would be all: ’kill the fatted calf, Mahmoud! It’s a boy!’. Is Iraq like china, where the girls just get thrown away, is it?
Mother and child are now being cared for in hospital. |