Bluff gran appeals for help to bury newborn who died in toilet
"Although I never knew this child, I feel it's only right to give him a proper burial but it's something I cannot afford"
A DEVASTATED Bluff grandmother only discovered on Monday, 11 December that she had lost a grandchild she never even knew existed.
The Bluff responded with outrage when the lifeless body of a newborn boy was found in a Tara Road toilet on Friday, 8 December.
Community members and advanced life support paramedics performed CPR on the newborn baby but despite 30 minutes of resuscitation attempts, he was declared dead at the scene.
In the wake of the tragedy, Youandi Gilain who represents Open Arms, a project of Isiaiah 54 Children’s Sanctuary is a crisis home for abused, abandoned and HIV infected babies and children named the little boy Nevaeh, which is heaven spelled backwards.
Bluff residents took to social media to share their outrage over the baby’s death.
While the mother had fled from the scene, on Monday, to the horror of her unaware family, police arrived to arrest the 21-year-old at home.
The grandmother, who asked not to be named, was taken aback by what the police told her because she had been unaware of her daughter’s pregnancy, “I feel so hurt that she could not confide in me about her pregnancy, as I would have helped her through the ordeal.
READ: Outrage follows after newborn dies after being dumped in Bluff toilet
The grandmother said she has had a nagging feeling about her daughter for weeks, but when she constantly questioned her daughter, she did not admit to anything or respond to her concerns. “She was scared to say anything about her pregnancy and what happened on Friday, so we were in the dark. But I could see something was bugging her. She looked like she had lost something. On Sunday when she was arrested, all she said to me was ‘mummy, I’m sorry’,” she said.
After the arrest, the grandmother sought help from Open Arms after reading articles about the organisation. “Although I never knew this child, I feel it’s only right to give him a proper burial but it’s something I cannot afford. So I approached Open Arms for help to raise money for a memorial for Nevaeh and his cremation.
The way he entered this Earth and left it so suddenly was not his fault and baby Nevaeh deserves a proper send-off,” she added.
READ: Bluff hosts ‘baby safe’ solution for unwanted babies
She also hopes her daughter’s story reaches into the hearts of expectant mothers who feel there is nobody to talk to or turn to for help. “If you are going through something you feel you can’t handle on your own, don’t push people away. And for parents who suspect anything, you were given a sign by God called intuition. Follow that sign and talk to your children, get them the help they need. With so much happening to children these days, we need to be there for them, especially for the babies who don’t have a voice,” she said.
She urges mothers or expectant mothers to not take the easy way out and rather make use of places such as Open Arms and Isaiah 54 which are there to help and counsel them.
For more information or to offer help with the memorial, WhatsApp or SMS Open Arms on 084-488-1359, email help@openarmssa.org or find them on Facebook: Open Arms SA.
