After six months of being hospitalised, Zayden Janse van Rensburg finally joined his family for the first time on June 21 at their Strubenvale home.
Eight-month-old Zayden was born on December 29 with a heart and lung condition and epilepsy that required specialised care.
One of his lungs collapsed at birth and he has holes in his heart. He was taken to the neonatal ICU at Life Dalview Hospital, where he was put on a ventilator and kept under sedation.
Zayden was also born with clubfoot and a submucous cleft palate, which happens when the roof of the mouth does not form properly while a baby is developing in the womb.
This meant he couldn’t drink from a bottle.
“I didn’t have the privilege or the blessing of holding him in my arms,” said an emotional Angelique, Zayden’s mother.
“The first two days were critical and we were also given the option to turn the machines off depending on his test results. The results came back and we were relieved that we did not have to turn off the machines despite him being tested positive for Down syndrome.
“A drain was inserted in his lung to remove the moisture and dirt for almost 25 days. He then had continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and a feeding tube down his throat.
“He has trisomy 21, which is by far the most common type of the disorder where every cell in the body has three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two.”
When he was a month old, his parents could hold him and Angelique remembers how they could not let go of him.
“They operated on his feet and he had plaster casts until he received specialised shoes for his condition,” said Angelique.
Zayden’s family slid through the months with faith, hoping that his condition would improve, which it eventually did as they received news that he would be discharged from the hospital.
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His condition meant that he would depend on oxygen even at home. His parents made sure that when he came back, he had the necessities that were required.
“Our son is permanently on oxygen and we can only take him off for about 20 minutes. We have a monitor that monitors his heart and oxygen,” Angelique explained.
Angelique shares how she has plucked up the courage to speak about the rough 174 days of her son being in the NICU after giving birth.
“There were days where I just didn’t see a chance to look ahead but realised that I had to fight and be strong for my husband Trevor and daughter Izabella just like Zayden did,” she said.
“During that time, when my phone rang and I saw that it was the hospital, I could feel my heart racing and I would be afraid to answer.”
Angelique remembers when there was a time she asked God to take her and save Zayden instead.
“God carried us and He had better plans for us. Zayden has been our miracle baby,” she said.
Things have been going well for the family. However, five weeks after Zayden’s discharge from the hospital, he was readmitted after having a seizure and aspiration.
Having almost exhausted medical aid funds, his family is now facing difficulties with outstanding hospital and doctor bills and heart medication not covered by the medical aid.
The family is appealing to the community for any help that would contribute to helping Zayden. Anyone wishing to get in touch with the family may contact Angelique on 073 611 6510.
