On a very cold morning 20 years ago Adri Olckers of Brackendowns pulled her three-year-old boy’s lifeless body from their swimming pool.
She had only one plea – that he be returned, no matter in what condition.
Nico Olckers, named after his grandfather, was only given a 20% chance of survival.
The Olckers’ suspect that he was bumped over by the family’s dogs and thus ended up in the pool. Years down the line, Adri believes that her son, Nico, who is a deacon at a Dutch-reformed Church in Brackendal, has progressed to the state he is in now through the power of unceasing prayers.
His tragic ordeal made headlines in the Alberton Record in 2003 and the family has since opened up regarding the turn of events, shedding more light on the day that changed his life forever.
Fighting for life
“He didn’t sit still for a minute until that Monday morning on May 19 when I discovered him at the bottom of the pool. I took him out, called the emergency number and applied CPR in an effort to have him back,” explained Adri.
She said that she drove him to the doctor where they tried to resuscitate him.
“Paramedics came to the doctor to transfer him to a different hospital and one paramedic managed to resuscitate him.
“A paediatrician then told us that he only had 20% to live and if so, he’d have an 80% chance of being brain damaged. After being admitted, he only opened his eyes on a Thursday morning,” Adri said.
When he opened his eyes, his speech was slightly different, though he remembered his name.
His mother made frequent visits to the hospital until young Nico was fully ready to go for therapy to have him talking and back on his feet again.
Adri is adamant that it is a miracle that he did not suffer severe brain damage after he had no heartbeat for almost an hour.
“From there on it was therapy, lots of prayers and all grace. People as far as Cape Town and overseas phoned me and nurses told me that his room was forever packed with people who came to offer him prayers. Since then, he has a strong long-term memory though his short-term memory is not so great,” she said.
‘Heaven is real’
“There was a time he told us that he was in heaven and how heaven was. When he could speak, at least a year after the incident, he described heaven to us and told us that he was sitting on Jesus’ lap. Then Jesus told him he must go back and tell the children ‘to be good’.
“He also spoke about seeing very elevated pillars with people’s names written on them,” explained Adri.
Life events often triggered young Nico to share his experience about heaven, describing it as ‘glorious’, with high gates and marvellous beauty that is out of this world.
This is very sensitive information for the family as it is often considered controversial by society.
New dawn sets in
He joined Frances Vorwerg School soon after his tragic ordeal and furthered his studies at The Bridging Gap Tutoring Centre in Brackenhurst.
In the previous year, Nico lost his father Renier, after a short battle with cancer and this took a toll on him and his mother.
“After I lost my father, my mom and I joined Solidarity Helping Hand to do charity work and I also get to do charity work at the NG Church, Brackendal where I serve as a deacon. I’m following in my dad’s footsteps, who for many years was also a deacon,” he said.
Nico is looking forward to welcoming his niece to the world who will be born later in the year. He plans on teaching her how to make knives – a skill which his late father taught him.
The lover of sport wishes to one day watch Formula One motor racing live.
Nico said he considers being alive as a miracle and appreciates every day.
