Moms are not too keen on the idea of bringing their newborn baby out into public for the first time. After all, the newborn is their precious cargo and those first few days are delicate ones. For the most part, the first outing is not a bad one and can usually calm the mother’s nerves. Unfortunately, for one mom, her first experience taking her newborn baby out into public will leave you absolutely appalled.
Amy Duckers chose her first outing with her newborn baby girl, Elsie Rose, to be at the Baguley, Wythenshawe Tesco supermarket. Along with her seven-year-old daughter Libby and partner Lewis Temple, she expected just a normal outing to the grocery store. While there, they saw a neighbor who wanted to come over and look at little Elsie. While the neighbor was admiring the baby, she ran into another couple there, a woman and a 63-year-old man. Then the scary moment happened that nearly paralyzed Amy.
Amy remembers hearing another customer say, “Aww, come and have a look at this lovely baby.” That’s when the 63-year-old man ran over to the newborn’s carriage, and closed his fist…He allegedly thought the newborn baby was a baby doll, and for whatever reason, he decided to punch the baby right straight in her little face. The punch left a big fist mark shape across little Elsie’s forehead. The moment unfortunately was witnessed by Libby, to where Libby’s overjoyed feelings of having a new baby sister, turned into a terrifying fear that her little sister was just killed right in front of her. Amy shared on the Manchester Evening News:
“We were mortified, my daughter was screaming thinking he had killed the baby.
Right after the man punched Elsie, he instantly apologized and admitted he thought she was a doll. The family alerted security about the situation, and the man, David Hardy, was arrested. According to Metro News, David Hardy was charged with assault and made bail. He is scheduled to appear at the Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court on October 4th. Elsie was immediately taken to Wythenshawe Hospital where she was monitored all night. Although Elsie was later released, Amy reflected on the whole situation by saying:
“I’m absolutely broken and torn apart. I can’t believe what me and my daughter had to see last night. It was just so horrific. I never ever want anyone to have to go through that again.”
Little baby Elsie is doing fine, but what a scary experience for the whole family. After this happened, Amy admits that she does not want to take Elsie out in public for a long time. This experience has made Amy not trust that the safety of her newborn is guaranteed, and so to keep Elsie safe, she has decided to go this route. Do you blame her?
We can’t explain why other people do the things they do. All we can explain is why we make the decisions we do. Luckily, baby Elsie was not seriously injured from this situation, and all parties involved handled the situation in a professional and quick thinking manner to where Elsie was promptly cared for after it happened.
Sources: Manchester Evening News, Metro News
