Hope on the day he was rescued.
Ololade Adeyanju/
Baby Hope, the starving two-year-old child who was left for dead, in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, by his parents, because they believed he was a witch, was pictured, on Friday, full of joy as he sets off for for his first day at school.
Photographs of the little boy made global headlines last year after a charity worker found him on the streets of Calabar, eight months after he was abandoned, emaciated and riddled with worms.
Having made a miraculous recovery, the now healthy-looking youngster set off to embark on his education in a strapping red outfit.
Hope was abandoned by his family because they thought he was a witch and was rescued by Anja Ringgren Loven, a Danish woman living in Nigeria, in January 2016.
Almost a year on to the day, she posted amazing before and after photographs of her holding a water bottle up to the boy’s mouth.
In an emotional Facebook post, she wrote: “On the 30th of January 2016, I went on a rescue mission with David Emmanuel Umem, Nsidibe Orok and our Nigerian team.
“A rescue mission that went viral, and today it’s exactly one year ago the world came to know a young little boy called Hope
“This week Hope will start school.”
Back in January, Loven found the boy after he spent eight months fending for himself and living off scraps.
She bent down and gently began feeding him and giving him water from a bottle. She then wrapped up the disorientated toddler in a blanket and took him to the nearest hospital for treatment.
When Hope reached the hospital, he was given medication to remove the worms from his stomach and daily blood transfusions to incorporate more red blood cells into his body, Loven said.
And two days after the aid worker asked for the community’s help with Hope’s costly medical bills, she received more than $1million in donations from around the world.
She and her husband, David Emmanuel Umem, began building their own orphanage in late January, last year.
They regularly share posts of their progress on social media and have garnered a huge following.
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Just imagine how wicked some animals in human skin can be! This lovely innocent Child was nearly wasted away for committing no sin. How on earth could a child of two be adjudged being a witch? The entire family should be hanged.