/ 6 April 2000

BABY SHOT IN WOMB

A BABY shot in her mother’s womb is fighting for her life after undergoing emergency surgery, the Star newspaper reports. Twenty three-year-old Leslie Ellerbeck was shot during a botched car-jacking near Johannesburg. She was eight months pregnant, and underwent a Caesarian section delivery. The baby, a girl, was first thought to have only a minor flesh wound on the buttocks, but doctors later discovered the bullet had pierced her colon. They have repaired her bowel, removed part of the colon, and fitted a bag.–AFP