Police said the premature baby found moving but struggling to breathe in a tent in the woods after allegedly being left in the cold for over an hour in Manchester, New Hampshire, the day after Christmas is recovering.
The boy was likely born on Christmas, according to court documents charging his mother, Alexandra Eckersley, with felony assault, endangering the welfare of a child and more.
"At last check, the baby is doing well," a Manchester police representative told NBC10 Boston Wednesday.
The baby boy, believed to be born three months early, is 4.4 lbs. and was taken to a hospital, officials have said. He survived at least 73 minutes in the 15-degree weather, even while a state police dog was brought in to help find what officials believed would be a body.
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Details were revealed in court Tuesday about the desperate search for the baby after Eckersley, the daughter of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and longtime Red Sox announcer Dennis Eckersley, called 911 to say she had given birth in the woods near the West Side Ice Arena, then allegedly led officers in the wrong direction.
Investigators allege Eckersley, 26, did it because she and her boyfriend didn't want to give the location of the tent, in an encampment for the unhoused, where she was living. Asked why she hadn't taken the baby with her, she said, "What do they tell when a plane goes down? Save yourself first," according to an affidavit filed in court.
Manchester police and fire, along with American Medical Response, searched in the area that Eckersley initially directed them to, but did not find the baby, according to Manchester police. Two first responders said Eckersley appeared to be on drugs, but Eckersley said she hadn't used for two days, according to the affidavit.
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Eventually, she gave the location of where her son was, and he was retrieved alive an hour and 13 minutes after she called 911, officials said. She told them she believed the baby was born between 11:30 p.m. and midnight on the night of Christmas.
She told officials she hadn't known she was pregnant, though a confidante later said Eckersley had told her a week earlier she was pregnant, and about four or five months along, investigators said in the documents.
Eckersley faced the charges from a hospital bed and was ordered held on $3,000 bail. Her attorney argued her client was traumatized.
"I don't think it's unreasonable at all that she was disoriented, confused, possibly suffering from hypothermia if she had just given birth outside in the elements," attorney Jordan Strand said.
Eckersley's boyfriend, who was allegedly with Eckersley until police arrived, may face charges in the case as well, prosecutors said.
Authorities said first responders on the scene had to perform life-saving treatment, and that the baby was believed to need intubation to help him breathe.
"They started immediately assisting the baby to breathe and keeping the baby warm and they rushed to the hospital in the fire engine," Manchester Fire Chief Jon Starr said Monday. "We were amazed that the baby was still alive but that just speaks to the professionalism of first responders here in Manchester."
Alexandra Eckersley is Dennis Eckersley's daughter, a representative for the baseball player confirmed to NBC10 Boston. The family had no comment.
Investigators spoke to Alexandra Eckersley's mother Tuesday morning and said they had a standing offer that she could come home if she got treated for drug use, prosecutors said.
