SHE was born at 25 weeks, barely a week after newborns are deemed viable, and weighed no more than a can of cooldrink – just 440g.
For months little Ruaché Botha’s parents watched as doctors and nurses scrambled to bring her back from the brink – her heart stopped, her lungs collapsed and there were endless complications.
“After I got to 10, I stopped counting the number of times her heart stopped,” mom Mari (30) says. “The pediatrician told us to prepare for the worst. My mother-in-law and I prayed so much the doctor said we’d tire God out. But here we are today.”
Ruaché – one of the smallest babies ever to survive in SA – has beaten the odds and defied doctors.
A total of 330 days after her precarious entry into the world, she was recently deemed well enough to go home – and when YOU visits the family at their home in Kempton Park, Gauteng, they’re preparing to celebrate her first birthday.
It’ll be a double celebration: for a while, it was touch and go whether Mari would make it too and she spent three months in hospital after giving birth, her life hanging in the balance.
Her husband, Johan (37), describes it as an absolute nightmare. “I’d go ice cold every time my phone rang because I knew it could be the hospital calling about Mari or Ruaché,” he says.
“I’m so grateful they’re both here.”
RUACHÉ is still tiny and wears clothes for a two- to three-month-old.
Bu hikaye YOU South Africa dergisinin 28 May 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye YOU South Africa dergisinin 28 May 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
'I'M BACK!'
ACK!’ Scandal after scandal hits Jacob Zuma, yet nothing ever brings him down. Now he’s plotting his return to parliament and he’s hinted he has his heart set on another term as president
A BRAIN YOU CAN COUNT ON
Meet Aaryan Shukla, the 13-year-old from India whos just been crowned the worlds fastest human calculator
FUN WHILE IT LASTED
It's all over for oddball couple Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher
THE TEEN MACHINE!
Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo has set the footballing world alight with his dazzling displays
A BETTER LIFE FOR ELIJAH
A rare condition means this little boy can't bend his arms and legs, but his parents are doing everything they can to give him a normal life
A DOCTOR'S JOURNEY
He chose to do one of the toughest jobs in medicine: looking after children who were dying. In this moving extract from his memoir, Cape Town paediatrician Alastair McAlpine reveals how, with wisdom and humour, sick kids taught him crucial lessons that changed his approach to life
'SA WILL ALWAYS BE PART OF ME'
Cindy Nell-Roberts is starting a new lite Down Under with her family. She tells YOU about the chaotic but happy p ansliepent why shes missing home
HOW TO SPOT A NARCISSIST
They often look like the most confident person in the room, but narcissists are insecure and desperate for validation, says a new book
DEFIANT TO THE END
He went from star athlete to Hollywood hero and ended up a reviled criminal but OJ Simpson remained unapologetic
BRING IT ON TAMMY!
Peet and Mel Viljoen arent going to let threats deter them from their fabulous life