Miracle Meyersdal twins born prematurely now ace tennis stars
The Alberton Record first heard of Milan and Liam Potgieter when the twins were born prematurely on January 1, 2013. We look at what they are up to 11 years later.
The Alberton Record published a story on January 9, 2013, about Milan and Liam Potgieter, twin brothers born prematurely on New Year’s Day in 2013 after an emergency caesarean section (C-section).
At the time, doctors at the Sandton Medi Clinic feared Milan might have suffered brain damage at birth, but, fortunately, that was not the case.
However, Liam became very ill with necrotising enterocolitis (intestinal disease affecting premature or very low-birth-weight infants), which forced him to spend the first year of his life in the hospital, with a 50% chance to live and have four surgeries.
He recovered well enough to go home in December of the same year of his birth.
This publication traced and found the Potgieter family to catch up and hear how the twins are doing. The twins’ mother, El-Freda Potgieter, recalled how the siblings grew close from a young age.
“Milan and Liam enjoyed being active and outdoors from a young age. They started playing tennis on the paving of our driveway,” said El-Freda.
“They broke a few windows trying to play golf in the backyard,” she added while laughing.
Milan and Liam are now Grade Five learners at Laerskool Randhart who enjoy tennis. They started tennis lessons in 2021 and have loved every minute ever since.
They want to be active and fit and work towards becoming good at the sport they hold dear, so they spend much of their time on the tennis court.
Father Stephan wants his boys to balance their schoolwork and sports.
“As parents, we want our boys to keep a balance. They are great chess players who excel at public speaking and enjoy athletics and cross-country. But the most important thing to us is hard work at school, and the boys’ academic performances remain a top priority for our family,” said Stephan.
Milan and Liam participated in the Gauteng East Tennis Association’s (GETA) September school trials. GETA invited learners from 150 primary and high schools in the province to the trials to form a provincial squad, which will compete at the interprovincial tournament scheduled for 2025.
The twins represented Laerskool Randhart at the GETA trials.
