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Police Officer Breastfeeds 'Smelly And Dirty' Neglected Baby, Gets Promoted

August 24, 2018

A police officer in Argentina is being celebrated after photos of her breastfeeding a malnourished baby went viral on social media.

Credit: Marcos Heredia / Facebook

Celeste Ayala, from Berisso, was on guard duty at the Sister Maria Ludovica children's hospital when a neglected baby was brought in suffering from malnutrition.

Despite the baby being described by the employees as "smelly and dirty", Ayala asked if she could hold and feed the baby.

Ayala's colleague, Marcos Heredia, snapped a photo of the compassionate act and posted it on Facebook.

I want to make public this great gesture of love that you had today with that little baby," read Heredia's post, loosely translated from Spanish. "Who without knowing you didn't hesitate and for a moment you fulfilled how if you were her mother. You don't care about filth and smell … things like that don't [happen] every day."

Ayala said she did not think twice about helping the baby in need.

"I noticed that he was hungry, as he was putting his hand into his mouth, so I asked to hug him and breastfeed him," Ayala told Cronica. "It was a sad moment, it broke my soul seeing him like this, society should be sensitive to the issues affecting children, it cannot keep happening."

The local fire brigade where Ayala volunteers in her spare time also paid tribute to her on Facebook.

"We want to congratulate the voluntary firefighting cadet Celeste Ayala who yesterday in her job as police officer whilst she was on guard duty at the Hospital, breastfed a young child who arrived crying," the brigade wrote. "Actions like these fill us with pride and obligate us to redouble the effort, the work and the solidarity with our community."

As a result of her selfless act, Ayala has been promoted from officer to sergeant.

Cristian Ritondo, the minister of security of Buenos Aires province, announced the promotion on Twitter.

"We wanted to thank you in person for that gesture of spontaneous love that managed to calm the baby's cry," Ritondo wrote. "That's the type of police we're proud of, the police we want."