Schoolboy’s horror after finding human PLACENTA on a path

• Jamie Clarke came across afterbirth on Wednesday morning in Southampton

A 15-year-old boy has revealed his shock after discovering a human placenta on his way to school, sparking a desperate police search to find the mother and her baby.

Jamie Clarke, a Year 9 pupil at Upper Shirley High School, was with two friends on a footpath off Dale Road, which leads to Holly Brook Park in Southampton, on Wednesday morning when they stumbled across the afterbirth.

Hampshire Police are now appealing for the mother to get in touch to let them know she is safe and if her newborn baby survived.

The force has said there is no investigation into a crime, but officers are following ‘a number of lines of enquiry’ in the area and has been using drones and tracker dogs as well as making door-to-door enquiries. 

Jamie said he and his friends spotted the placenta when they walked over to a football in a bush.

‘At first I thought it was a bit of an animal but when we saw it, it didn’t look like an animal.

‘It just didn’t look like it, it was too big so we decided to call the police,’ he told the Daily Southern Echo.

Officers arrived at the scene in under ten minutes and cordoned off the area.

Jamie added: ‘The police asked if there was any fur on it, but there was nothing.

‘Some of us were standing near the roundabout and making sure there wasn’t anyone taking pictures or seeing it.

‘Other police came, and we showed them and that’s when they said they would take over.’

Jamie’s mother Kerry Metcalf, 39, has since praised her son for raising the alarm. 

She said: ‘These were three lads who didn’t really know what it was but did the right thing.

‘You don’t get many 15-year-olds that would do that and I like to think what he did will help the mother.

‘As a mother you think there is a mother out there who did that because she didn’t have the help she needed. It’s heartbreaking.’

It is currently not known if the woman had anyone else with her who might have assisted with the birth.

Southampton Chief Inspector Marcus Kennedy said: ‘Now that we have preliminary findings that indicate this discovery to be a human placenta, we remain increasingly concerned for the welfare of the mother and the child.

‘I understand that this must be a very distressing time for you and that you may be frightened, but we want to make sure you are getting the right help and care, so please get in touch with us.

‘We would also like to speak with anyone who has any concerns about someone who has recently been pregnant, that you think may have been pregnant or may have given birth recently without support.

‘Anyone who contacts us can speak with us in complete confidence. Our absolute priority is to ensure the mother and child receive the assistance they require.

‘Officers will remain in the area of Holly Brook Park for now. If you have any concerns, however insignificant you may believe them to be, please do not hesitate to approach an officer or to make contact with us.’

Anyone with information should call 101 quoting reference 44230246419.