MOM ISN'T COMING HOME

After a devastating accident and her mother's death, young Miane's care now rests in her grieving family's loving hands

- JACQUES MYBURGH

IF YOU didn't know better you'd think this was a happy family home - there are photographs on the walls in the living area and a trampoline in the big back garden for kids to jump on it. But the house in eMalahleni, Mpu-malanga, is cloaked in sadness. Tragedy has visited the family before and it's come for them again. For Mariaan Ainslee, it's almost too much to bear.

First her granddaughter Miané nearly drowned in the family swimming pool when she was one year old, leaving her with severe disabilities. Now Mariaan's daughter, Claudette Ainslie (42), has died after complications following gynaecological surgery.

Miané (now 11) lies on the couch, her eyes closed, making soft moaning sounds. She knows her mother won't be coming home again, her gran says.

"We told her that her mom is with Jesus now and her eyes filled with tears," Mariaan, a 78-year-old widow, adds.

The little girl's heart stopped after she fell in the pool and paramedics spent 45 minutes trying to revive her. Due to the lack of oxygen, she suffered brain damage and has since required full-time care.

Miané has the mind of a three-year-old and is prone to seizures during fevers. Her hips are out of joint and she's confined to her bed or the couch.

Claudette, an accountant, did all she could to make sure her child had the best care possible, her sister Clautelle Herholdt (48) says.

"Before the accident she was very focused on her work but afterwards that changed and she focused everything on her child, making sure she had the best quality of life."

But last year Claudette's health took a hammering. She was diagnosed with endometriosis, an extremely painful condition where the tissue that forms the lining of the uterus grows outside the womb.