Grace’s story
Who knows what desperation causes a mother to abandon her
baby? On the first day of September 2003, the first day
of South African Spring, a little girl was born and left
in a dustbin across the street from a rural clinic outside
Johannesburg. This was a telling detail: her location ensured
her discovery and her survival.
In the early hours of 2 September 2003, someone heard a
little cry and brought her to the clinic. Once inside, her
umbilical cord was clamped. A nurse later said the baby
was frozen so she wrapped her up and put her by a radiator,
not believing she would survive. She did survive and
a few hours later Child Welfare called Caroline Webb and
asked if there was room for her at Baby Haven. The social
worker asked Caroline for a name and the Scripture ran through
Caroline’s mind, “by grace she has been saved.”
Caroline said “We’ll call her Grace.”
Within hours Grace was in her cot in Baby Haven having
drunk two full bottles of milk. Four months later, a couple
from the Webbs’ church fell in love with her. Gracie
went to live with them on 1 February and her adoption was
completed soon after. Gracie was the first baby at Baby
Haven and will always have an extra special spot in the
Webbs’ hearts.
The new parents later returned to Baby Haven to adopt their
second child.
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