Ané Pretorius from Weltevreden Park was born at 26 weeks on 22 November last year, weighing only 980g.
At five days old, she contracted Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and was immediately placed on a ventilator.
NEC is a devastating disease that affects mostly the intestine of premature infants in which the wall of the intestines is invaded by bacteria.
At only 12 days old, little Ané had a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) surgery as she also had a hole in her heart.
Two days before Christmas, she urgently had to go to theatre to assess the damage the NEC had caused.
After a two-hour surgery, the doctors confirmed the NEC had caused severe damage to Ané’s bowel and they couldn’t do anything.
Ané spent three months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NNICU) and her third operation was a success, but she lost her entire large bowel and now has to wear a stoma bag.
Baby Ané is now nine months old and has worked very hard to stay healthy. She is now in need of her fourth operation to remove the stoma bag and reconnect her bowel.
Ané’s mother, Nadine Pretorius is doing everything to save her little girl, including working three jobs to keep up with the medical bills.
The operation will cost R48 000 and Nadine is desperate – she needs all the help that she can get to make this operation a success.
Members of the community and local businesses who are interested in donating towards the operation and thus help to save the little girl’s life can contact Nadine Pretorius on 071 462 6313 or email her on nadine.radical@hotmail.com.
