Disposable diaper breaks fall, saves child's life

As tot fell from third-floor apartment window, diaper snagged on a spike


updated 6:51 p.m. ET Aug. 28, 2008
SAO PAULO, Brazil - A disposable diaper has saved the life of an 18-month-old boy, breaking his fall from a third-floor apartment window, officials said Thursday.
Caua Felipe Massaneiro survived a 30-foot fall because his diaper snagged on a security spike embedded in the concrete wall around his apartment building in the northeastern Brazilian city of Recife.

The boy dangled from the spike for a moment, then "the diaper opened and the baby fell to the ground, but at a much slower speed," a police officer said. "The diaper obviously lessened the impact of the fall and saved the baby's life."

"It was a miracle," said the officer who declined to be identified because she was not authorized to speak to the press. "He could also have been killed by one of the spikes."

The child was treated for minor fractures at the Hospital Memorial Sao Jose, where spokesman Gilberto Tenorio said he was in stable condition.

Police have opened an investigation to determine how the toddler fell out the window and "if parental negligence was one of the causes," the police officer said.

The Folha de S. Paulo newspaper quoted Caua's father, 23-year-old Alexandre Cesar Massaneiro as saying that his son climbed onto a sofa underneath the window he fell from - "something he had never done before."

"It wasn't the diaper that saved him," Massaneiro told the newspaper. "It was God."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Limbless boy says ‘anything’s possible’

Nick Santonastasso has one arm equipped with one finger. That’s it. His right arm ends in a stump a couple of inches from his shoulder. He has no legs. He also has no limitations.

“I know anything’s possible,” the remarkable 12-year-old told TODAY’s Ann Curry Tuesday in New York.

Videos of Nick playing baseball and football, doing a headstand on his skateboard, playing the keyboard and drums, typing on a computer, helping in the kitchen and playing video games with his siblings were proof he’s right.

“My parents just keep encouraging me to do stuff — like, don’t give up and keep trying. If you fall down, get back up,” he said in explaining why he attacks life with such gusto.

When Nick’s mother Stacey was pregnant with him, doctors told her that he would be born “fragile.” He was diagnosed with Hanhart Syndrome Type II, a rare genetic disorder identified in only 11 other people.

The Santonastassos, who live in New Jersey, had three other children, and they resolved to treat Nick the same as their other children, with love but without excuses.

‘Our hero’
“We didn’t treat him any different than any of our other children,” his father Michael said. Even so, he’s impressed with just how normal his son is. “We’re supposed to be heroes to our children, but Nick is a hero to us. He’s proved to be a real trouper, and our hero.”

But heroes have heroes, too, and Nick’s is Tiki Barber, the former star running back of the New York Giants who retired last year and became a correspondent for TODAY. Curry told Nick, who was wearing a Tiki Barber jersey, that for his birthday, which was May 20, the show wanted to give him a new skateboard. The person who presented it to him in the studio was Barber.

“Nick, you’re an inspiration,” read the inscription Barber had written on the board along with his autograph.

Nick’s eyes filled with tears of joy as Barber sat down next to him. “You’re an inspiration,” Barber repeated. “There are a lot of kids who might be at a disadvantage,” he added. “You give them strength. You really do.”

Curry observed that most parents try to protect their kids from failure, but the Santonastassos didn’t do that with Nick.

“Absolutely not,” Stacey Santonastasso said. “If you do have a small failure, it just makes you stronger to succeed at the next stop. It just makes you stronger and want to accomplish more.”

“It builds self-confidence in yourself to try it again,” Nick added. “And you’ll be happy and succeed and not fail.”

Threw away prosthetics
At an early age, his parents had him fitted with prosthetic legs and a prosthetic right arm, but Nick threw them away, finding they limited his mobility instead of enhancing it. He’s mainstreamed at school and gets good grades. His only concession to his lack of limbs is to ride a wheelchair between classes in school. But at home, he scampers around the house using just his arm.

With just his one finger, he can pick up a penny, his mother reported, something she can’t do herself. He writes and draws with a pen tucked between his stump and his chin.

Recently, Nick entered a drawing in a statewide contest in New Jersey on the theme of family values. His entry was a tree with a spreading canopy and deep roots. Above the tree were the words, “The roots of a family are ….”

Below the ground, the roots spelled out the final word of the message: “Love.”

The poster won the contest, and Nick got to meet N.J. Gov. John Corzine. The contest judges were unaware of Nick’s physical condition. He won on merit, the same way he does everything else in life.

“He has no boundaries,” said his mother. “He’s just a happy kid. You want to be around him, because it’s always fun.”

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Dog protected abandoned newborn, doctors say

(CNN) -- A dog sheltered a newborn baby abandoned by its 14-year-old mother in a field in rural Argentina until the boy was rescued, a doctor said Friday.





The abandoned infant was found in a field with this dog and her newborn puppies.

A resident of a rural area outside La Plata called police late Wednesday night to say that he had heard the baby crying in a field behind his house.

The man went outside and found the infant lying beside the dog and its six newborn puppies, said Daniel Salcedo, chief of police of the Province of Buenos Aires.

The temperature was a chilly 37 degrees, Salcedo said.

The dog had apparently carried the baby 50 meters from where his mother had abandoned him to where the puppies were huddled, police said.

"She took it like a puppy and rescued it," Salcedo said. "The doctors told us if she hadn't done this, he would have died.

"The dog is a hero to us."

Dr. Egidio Melia, director of the Melchor Romero Hospital in La Plata, said police showed up at the hospital at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday with the baby, who doctors say was only a few hours old.

Though the infant had superficial scratches and bruises and was bleeding from his mouth, he was in good shape, Melia said.

The next morning, the child's mother was driven by a neighbor to the hospital and told authorities that the 8-pound, 13-ounce infant is hers, Melia said.


The teenager was immediately given psychological treatment and was hospitalized, he said. She has said little about the incident.

The child has been transferred to a children's hospital in La Plata, 37 miles from Buenos Aires.


© 2008 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
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Heart boy needs funds

KUALA PERLIS: She is suffering from cancer but Rozana Muhammad has not let it stop her from caring for her two other ailing family members. Diagnosed with intestine cancer, the 40-year-old had undergone five operations but she has put her own suffering aside to care for her 55-year-old heart patient husband and the couple's 12-year-old son, Mohammad Akmal Hidayat Jamil, who suffers from a hole in the heart.



Adding to her worries is the worsening condition of Akmal who needs to undergo an operation today.

Akmal, a Year Six pupil of Sekolah Rendah Kebangsan Padang Besar Selatan, had previously undergone surgery to repair his heart valve at the Gleneagles Hospital in George Town, Penang, in 2006.

But doctors had since said he would need another surgery following complications.

The hospital has agreed to finance RM10,000 of the RM25,000 surgery but Rozana would need to raise RM15,000.

When met at her Kampung Bukit Papan, Jalan Kuala Perlis house, here, yesterday, she was at her wits' end.

"The date of my son's operation is geting nearer but I don't know how I am going to come up with that much money.

"I have gone everywhere to ask for help but nobody seems to be interested."

Rozana was previously a security guard at the Tuanku Fauziah Hospital in Kangar but had to give up her job when she fell sick.

Her husband Jamil Hussin, a labourer, had quit his job after a heart attack last month.

Those who wish to help may send cheques made payable to the New Straits Times with Akmal's full name written on the reverse side of the cheque.

Send the cheques to The Cashier, Finance Department / Charity Unit, The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, Balai Berita, No 31, Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.


© Copyright 2008 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.
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Ibrahim Ouaida drowns trying to save his sister in Melbourne

AN eight-year-old boy who drowned while trying to save his older sister told her he loved her before slipping beneath the waves.Ibrahim Ouaida drowned two years ago at Sandridge Beach in Melbourne after his sister Sarah, 10, was caught in a rip.
Yesterday, he was posthumously awarded a bravery medal for placing the life of another before his own. The eight-year-old was swimming with his sister and two brothers, Fouad, 6, and Billel, 20, at the beach on December 10, 2006, when an unexpected cool change swept across Port Phillip Bay.
"About 5pm the temperature dropped drastically by 10 degrees from the high 30s," Ibrahim's mother Soraya Ouaida said.
"With the changes of weather the ocean went a bit wild and Sarah got pushed back by a wave and caught in a strong rip." Sarah yelled at her younger brother to get help but without a second thought he said: "I'm coming, I'm closer." Although both children had taken swimming lessons, Sarah couldn't stay afloat and Ibrahim had to keep pushing her head above water. "But a child of eight, what can he do? It's just too much for a little body," an emotional Ms Ouaida said.
"All that time he kept smiling to her and saying 'You're going to be fine' and 'I love you'." By this stage a man had swum out to help the two children and Ibrahim told him: "Please look after my sister, my mother needs her, she's very important", before letting go. Ibrahim's older brother, Billel, who'd already saved Fouad, and fellow rescuer Samir El Haouli, managed to get the eight-year-old back to the beach but he couldn't be resuscitated. Billel and Mr El Haouli also received bravery medals yesterday for their roles in the rescue attempt.
Ms Ouaida said while Sarah had made a full physical recovery "mentally she hasn't recovered". Ibrahim's mother said his bravery award would help reinforce what Sarah already believed - that her younger brother was a special person."She always calls him her special angel and hero," Ms Ouaida said. "She writes poems about what happened and about her special brother who looked after her."
Twenty-four people were awarded bravery medals in the Australian Bravery Decorations this year, and another 18 received commendations for brave conduct.

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