A mother's heartfelt plea for her daughter's hearing

ALL TRACY Olivari longs for is to hear her four-year-old daughter Zoë speak a full sentence and for Zoë to finally hear her say the words: “I love you. I’m proud of you.”

- TRACY-LYNN RUITERS

But those dreams remain heartbreakingly distant.

The Goodwood mother is making a public appeal for help to raise funds for a life-changing operation that could allow Zoë to hear for the first time. Born prematurely at just seven months, Zoë was given only hours to live. Doctors had to resuscitate her twice after birth, and she was immediately placed on life support, with severely underdeveloped lungs and around-the-clock medical care.

“The doctors told me she wouldn't make it,” Tracy recalled. “But she proved them all wrong. She fought harder than anyone I’ve ever known.”

Tracy, a single mother, spent those critical days at her daughter's side, holding her hand, whispering prayers, and speaking life into her fragile little body.

“Hours turned into days, and days into months,” she said. “And just like that, my brave girl’s fighting journey began.”