MBOMBELA – They waited several years for their little miracle and after having gone through the heartache of three miscarriages, Inocent Makuwaza (32) and Lorraine Muchapa (31) were ecstatic over the birth of their daughter, Zee Makuwaza, in April last year.
She was perfect – beautiful and healthy. However, she would be diagnosed with a life-threatening condition at only five months old. It is now a race against time as Zee needs an operation as soon as possible in order to avoid irreparable damage to her tiny body.
Although it was a high-risk pregnancy considering the miscarriages, the gynaecologist didn’t pick up any defect on the sonars he had performed on Lorraine.
She and Innocent were travelling to Zimbabwe when she suddenly experienced severe swelling in her legs at 28 weeks of gestation. She visited a doctor there who found that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Zee’s neck. She was delivered by Caesarean section at 34 weeks.
“Everything was fine,” Lorraine shook her head, still in disbelief over her daughter’s diagnosis. The couple returned to South Africa two weeks later and Zee thrived as a happy and healthy baby.
She received her immunisations at a local clinic when she was six months old. Shortly after this, Lorraine noticed she had flu-like symptoms, but thought it normal as many babies are not well after these immunisations.
The family travelled to Johannesburg and en route, Zee suddenly fainted. “She was crying and her eyes rolled to the back after which she fainted,” Lorraine recalled. They rushed with her to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital where she was revived.
Doctors performed tests and took X-rays and found that Zee’s heart was twice as big as normal. She was also diagnosed with pneumonia. “Doctors heard a murmur and suspected she had some heart condition. Still, we didn’t think it was anything serious.”
An echo cardiogram was performed and it was discovered that Zee had three holes in her heart and only one valve between the chambers instead of two. Inocent, obviously having educated himself as much as he could on his daughter’s condition, explained, “She suffers from atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD).
“It implies that oxygenated blood is mixing with deoxygenated blood. Because there is so much pressure on the heart, blood is not being pumped at full capacity to the rest of the body. Blood is only being pumped to the lungs, putting them under immense pressure.”
Ideally, Zee must have been operated on before the age of six months in order to prevent her from developing pulmonary hypertension, an irreversible and fatal condition. Now, every month – every week in fact – is a race against time.
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The family doesn’t have medical aid. The procedure cannot be performed by physicians in Mpumalanga.
“She will have to be operated on in Johannesburg General Hospital. However, there is a waiting list of more than a year, and Zee isn’t even on the list yet,” Inocent explained.
They consulted with private physicians who said they would require up to R300 000 before performing the surgery. Lorraine has an aunt in Britain and posted their plight on gofundme.com. A journalist of Daily Mail who saw the post contacted her and did a story which was published on December 24. Since then, 8 183 British pounds have been paid into this account, amounting to about R180 000.
“The response has been overwhelming and we are so grateful. We are more than halfway there, but we need more,” Lorraine said. Unfortunately, only foreign currencies can be deposited into this account.
Also, once the pounds are paid into the couple’s South African bank account, it will also be less due to banking costs.
In the meantime, Zee is receiving oxygen 24 hours a day, every day. “Two minutes without it and she turns blue,” Lorraine says. She weighs only 6,3 kilograms and struggles to pick up weight. She cannot sit up or crawl and is exhausted very easily.
Yet, she is all smiles and watched Lion King attentively during Lowvelder‘s visit, crying when her dad dared to pick her up for a cuddle.
“It is a difficult time we are going through. Whenever she coughs or breathes fast, we panic. It’s been really hectic,” Inocent says as he hugs Zee close to him, her eyes still fixed on Lion King.
“Please, we know South Africans are going through tough economic times, but we request that, if you find it in your heart to donate towards her operation, to please contact us,” Lorraine urged. They can be contacted on 079-511-6315 or 083-560-0075.
