A family in France is mourning the loss of their baby to an unexpected accident. Newborn Zayneb-Cassandra was allegedly dropped shortly before she was due to leave the hospital, and the person who reportedly dropped her was also a young child. For still unknown reasons, the child, who is not related to the baby, was constantly left unattended at the hospital. The baby’s’s death and what caused it is still under investigation. For the moment, it’s hard to know if anyone will face consequences.
The incident took place at Jeanne-de-Flandre Children’s Hospital in Lille. On July 15, 2025, an infant identified as Zayneb-Cassandra was declared dead. Several days earlier, on July 11, she experienced a traumatic brain injury after allegedly being dropped, The Independent reported.
According to an investigating source, the baby was born at 7.5 months of gestation, about a month and a half premature. She was the first child born to a 23-year-old mother and was born via C-section.
“The delivery went very well, but the little girl was premature, so she was taken to a neonatal unit, while her mother remained in a maternity ward,” the source explained.
During her time at the hospital, a 6-year-old boy was creating a stir in the hospital. His mother was also staying in the maternity ward, but the young boy seemed to constantly create a “disruptive presence,” The Independent reported. The boy was largely left unattended, much to the frustration of other parents in the ward.
Speaking with French news outlet Voix du Nord, the grandmother of Zayneb-Cassandra gave more details. “The boy would arrive at 7am and spend all day running up and down the hallways,” she said, per The Independent. “All the mothers were complaining, and a nurse even warned the child’s mother that there was a problem. He was entering the other rooms.”
The grandmother also explained that the boy entered Zayneb’s room as well. “He said she looked like a doll, and my husband, who was there, took him out,” she said.
As the baby’s mother was signing discharge papers, “all of a sudden, the family received a call from a ward manager, saying they needed to come right away – a little boy had been playing with the baby, who had fallen.”
The family heard from another mother that there was “a loud bang” as the baby’s head hit the ground. She was unconscious on the floor and the little boy was sitting in a chair. “It seems he tried to grab her by her nappy, and she fell on her head,” the grandmother said.
The baby was taken to intensive care, where she was declared brain dead as a result of “a serious brain injury.”
Now, the Lille Judicial Police Service juvenile unit is investigating the incident, according to a spokesperson for Lille prosecutors. The hospital is also opening “an internal administrative investigation,” The Independent reported.
“This human tragedy has deeply affected the staff and teams of Lille University Children’s Hospital, as well as the other families present,” a spokesperson for the hospital shared.
