MEYERTON – “We woke up in the early morning with Matteo screaming in pain. We did not know what was happening,” says his parents, Matthew and Laura Botha of Golf Park.

They adopted Matteo at the age of six weeks after 15 years of struggling with infertility.

They took little Matteo to the hospital, where X-rays were taken and found that there was an obstruction in his colon.

After a long wait for surgery and transfer to another hospital, Matteo’s condition deteriorated significantly, and he developed severe acidosis.

During the emergency operation, his heart stopped for 18 minutes. They found that his intestine was twisted and had become gangrenous and needed to be removed.

As a result of all of this, Matteo was left in a critical condition and had to be resuscitated 12 times over the next 24 hours.

“We were utterly in shock and devastated. Our little angel was fighting for his life,” says Matthew.

It was a miracle that Matteo survived so many resuscitations, but these events unfortunately led to Matteo’s hypoxic brain injury.

He spent two and a half months in paediatric ICU and a further three months in a rehabilitation hospital. After five and a half months, he could finally go home.

“Matteo’s recovery went well at the rehabilitation hospital. He had to learn how to eat and talk all over again. His recovery was slow but encouraging,” says Matthew.

But then came another shock. In November 2023, Matteo started having epileptic seizures.

While being treated for hypsarrhythmia epilepsy, his seizures started getting worse and had developed into another type of rare epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Unfortunately, this is a severe and drug-resistant form of epilepsy that is very difficult to treat.

Matteo is on six different types of medication to try to control his seizures. But he still has frequent daily seizures that affect his ability to develop, learn, and enjoy daily life.

In November 2025, he went into status epilepticus (a prolonged continuous seizure).

Following these events, he has developed increased sensitivity in his feet and lost strength in his legs.

“Despite everything, he remains a loving and strong little guy. The only other option we have been given by his neurologist is to have a VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulator) implant,” says Matthew.

This device is connected to the vagus nerve in the neck and sends electrical pulses to help reduce the frequency and severity of his seizures.

This would hopefully help reduce some of his medications and allow him to be more alert and engaged in the extensive therapy he receives.

However, this device is very expensive. It is currently awaiting approval from the medical aid, but even if approval is granted, there will still be a significant shortfall because of the high cost.

“We started a campaign to get funding for the VNS implant, and to send Matteo for additional therapy to assist in getting him back to walking and eating again.

“Any donations will help us cover the shortfall and hopefully assist with some of the additional medical expenses and therapy that Matteo needs,” says Matthew.

Getting this implant could be a game-changer for Matteo.

“Matteo has endured so much and is still the sweetest, most beautiful little boy. We want to give him the best possible future,” says Matthew.

https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/help-matteo-fight-severe-drug-resistant-epilepsy