Mom writes heart-breaking tribute to daughter Ruby
“Losing you was not part of the dream. [Your sister] keeps talking about you, saying that you are sleeping. She’s too young to understand.”
Fifteen-year-old Ruby Ballack died on Youth Day, 16 June, after suffering from restrictive cardiomyopathy and pulmonary hypertension for nearly two years.
She was buried a week later, on Saturday, 24 June, at Sterkfontein Cemetery. Her mother Wanda, read a heart-breaking tribute to her in church.
Also read: Ruby’s heart condition not an episode of Grey’s Anatomy
With nearly three hundred guests and a glimmering white casket, the atmosphere in the church was bone-chilling.
“You left so suddenly, I still can’t believe you are gone,” said Wanda, with a huge portrait of her beautiful daughter next to her.
“I knew your health was deteriorating fast, but we believed that the phone call would come.”
Also Read: Hope towers over teen’s short life expectancy
Wanda’s shoulders drooped when she said that she and her daughter still had so many things they wanted to do and that Ruby had so many unfulfilled dreams.
“… your dream to go to Mauritius – we looked at photos and accommodation on the internet and we even picked a favourite hotel. These were happy thoughts and they made you smile.”
Her heart broke as she told of one of their aunts who went to Mauritius shortly before Ruby’s death and her promise that she would send photos of the trip to Ruby every day.
But, sadly the aunt only had the chance to send Ruby one picture – the most amazing sunset that she had ever witnessed. Ruby passed away that night. The aunt told Wanda that the sun only set that beautifully on the night that Ruby died, and not once in the last few days of their stay had the sunset looked as beautiful again.
Also Read: Ruby’s last wish – chicken nuggets for dinner
While grieving the loss of Ruby, the aunt told the management of their hotel in Mauritius what had happened and as a tribute they let her pack some pebbles and flowers at the hotel entrance. She also had the chance to write Ruby’s name in the sand.
“So you were in Mauritius, my Angel, but not in the way we dreamed it would be,” said Wanda.
She said that Ruby had been in a lot of pain and had to deal with a lot of discomfort during the last few weeks of her life, but “we didn’t see this coming.
“Losing you wasn’t part of the dream. Whenever you had a really bad day, I would remind you how much better you were going to feel when you received your new heart and lungs, your second chance. Pain-free, no longer tired and breathless …”
“Even though you never got to fulfill some of your dreams, we did get the opportunity to do so many other special things. You got to fly on an airplane for the first time, and had a first train ride, when we went to Cape Town. We got to visit the Heart Museum which had special meaning for our family.
“Nika keeps talking about you, saying that you are sleeping and have a big ‘eina’. She is too young to understand, but I have decided that I will make sure that she never forgets you and continues to love you in your absence.
“I slept next to your bed on a mattress for five months. I’m back in my room again, but can’t seem to sleep. I am so lost without you. It does give me some comfort that you are now pain-free, but missing you is unbearable …
“… there is so much around us reminding us of you. Appletiser, pork ribs, popcorn and so many things you used to love. I will never look at butterflies the same way again. After we learnt that you had an enlarged heart, you used to say: ‘I love you more for sure now, because my heart is bigger’. How precious of you.
“I think the biggest goal you have achieved is to inspire others to sign up as organ donors and through your legacy you will continue to do so and save the lives of many other transplant patients waiting for their miracles.
“You did get your phone call on Friday 16 June. It wasn’t your heart, but God who called you home. I am privileged to call myself your mother. Rest in peace, my Angel.”
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