Compassion isn’t always something that comes easy. But for one police officer from Berisso, Argentina, it was all too easy to do the right thing. Officer Celeste Jaqueline Ayala acted out of the goodness of her heart when she didn’t hesitate to breastfeed a malnourished infant. The baby was taken to the hospital after his mother needed medical attention, but the hospital was overloaded with work and Celeste couldn’t sit idly by while the baby boy wailed. Now, the policewoman is being praised online as a hero for her clear act of generosity.
According to Fox News, Ayala was working on guard duty at Sor Maria Ludovica children’s hospital when the baby’s mother was brought in for medical attention. The single mother of six was struggling to look after him and the boy was described as being “smelly and dirty.”
But that didn’t stop the officer from doing what was right.
Seeing that the staff was clearly overloaded with work, Ayala asked to hold the baby when she heard his hunger cries. She then decided to breastfeed the baby, who immediately was soothed by the comforting touch.
Ayala was such a hero mama.
Speaking with local media site Cronica, Ayala told them that “I noticed that he was hungry, as he was putting his hand into his mouth, so I asked to hug him and breastfeed him. 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.”
Her colleague, Marcos Heredia, witnessed the amazing act.
Marcox posted a photo of her to where the post was shared more than 111K times back in 2018. “I want to make public this great gesture of love you made today for this little baby who you did not know, but for who you did not hesitate to act like a mother,” Marcos wrote. “You did not care if he was dirty, which is what the hospital staff called him. Good job mate.”
And the fire department where Celeste also volunteers praised her actions too. Posting on Facebook, officials wrote that “actions like this cadet [took] fill us with pride and force us to redouble our efforts, work, and solidarity with our community.”