A woman who was dumped inside a telephone box when she was a baby has now begun a quest to find the man who rescued her.

Kiran Sheikh was just two hours old when she was abandoned by her mother in the middle of the night on April 30 1994.

The frightened mum, who already had six children, wrapped her little girl in blankets after giving birth to her on the kitchen floor.

She was in a violent relationship at the time and decided the best thing for the newborn was to be away from it - so she left her baby inside the phone box in Newham, east London, before calling for the Samaritans.

The charity workers promised they would come, but before they got there the child was discovered by a man wanting to use the phone to call home.

He called the police and the precious girl was taken to Newham General Hospital, where she was given the name ‘April’ after the month in which she was born.

Officers launched an appeal to try and find April’s mum but didn’t find her until two years later, when she was hospitalised while giving birth to her eighth child.

By that time, the little girl had been adopted by a Pakistani family who called her Kiran.

View photos

Abandoned: Kiran was dumped inside a phone box when she was just two hours old (SWNS)

The man who found her tried to keep in touch, sending gifts, letters and birthday cards, but social services told him to cut ties with the little girl - so he did.

Now, 22 years on, after learning about her past aged 18, Kiran is desperate to find the caring stranger who found her so she can thank him for what he did.

Kiran, who lives in London, said of the stranger: “He picked me up straight away and called the police and then I was taken to the hospital. I was roughly two hours old…

"He sent me cards and was actually interested in me.

"What he did was so sweet. If I saw him I would just thank him.

"I would also try and find out what exactly happened that night. I am just so grateful.”

Kiran has never met her mum and her dad is in prison in Canada for attempted murder after he stabbed an ex-girlfriend 30 times.

Kiran added of her quest: "It has been difficult but now I am really focused on finding the man who rescued me from the phone box so I cay thank you.

"The main purpose is to get to him. And if I’m lucky, my mum way want to contact me too.”

According to social services, the man was called John or Joe Campbell and is of Nigerian descent, but they have no contact details for him.

Top pic: SWNS