Twin baby in dire straits
According to Naude they were informed that the specialist at Steve Biko can only see Marius on 6 March next year. If anyone is able to assist the family in any way they can contact them on 079-074-2524.
LYDENBURG – Things are not looking good for little Marius. The prematurely born twin of Mr Kobus (29) and Ms Hyletta (29) Naude was delivered in Lydenburg Hospital on October 5.
His brother, Markus, died the same day in hospital after the staff at Lydenburg Hospital allegedly ignored the couple’s plea for medical assistance. Hyletta was 28 weeks pregnant with the identical twin boys when her water broke on September 28.
Her husband took her to Lydenburg Hospital. Kobus requested the hospital to arrange an ambulance for his wife to Rob Ferreira Hospital as the twins were premature and Lydenburg hospital did not have a neonatal ICU. His requests were ignored and Hyletta gave birth to the two bridge babies on her hospital bed. Four hours later Markus died.
Also read: Parents lay blame for twin’s death on hospital
Shortly afterwards an ambulance arrived and Hyletta and Marius were taken to Rob Ferreira Hospital. On November 12 Marius was discharged from hospital.
“We were driving back to Lydenburg when Marius stopped breathing. I started tapping his back and he thankfully started breathing again. At home that night everything was fine. The next morning after Hyletta bathed him, he stopped breathing again,” said Kobus. He said that he ran with him to the nearest doctor’s office, opposite Pick n Pay in Kantoor Street.
“The doctor managed to get him to breathe again by applying CPR. We were then advised to rush him to Lydenburg Hospital.” The next morning Marius was transferred to Rob Ferreira Hospital. “Marius has been in hospital for more than a month now. Each time they take him off the oxygen he immediately stops breathing. The doctors told us that they do not know what is wrong with him”.
The couple is devastated and emotionally at an all-time low. Naude is a contractor, he only gets paid when he works. With Marius being sick and him having to drive to and from Mbombela, the family is barely making ends meet. The couple has three older sons, aged six, seven and 11. Little Marius was discharged from Rob Ferreira on Tuesday. “We were sent home with an oxygen tank.
He has to be on the oxygen 24/7. We need to get an extra bottle of oxygen in case something happens, but it is quite expensive.” According to Naude they were informed that the specialist at Steve Biko can only see Marius on 6 March next year. If anyone is able to assist the family in any way they can contact them on 079-074-2524.
It has been more than a month since the newspaper sent queries regarding Markus’s death to the Mpumalanga department of health’s spokesperson, Mr Dumisani Malamule. Yet no response has to date has been received.
