Tebogo Monama

Tebogo Monama

There is no worse pain for a mother than seeing her child being sick.

This is what Felicity Madikane, of Kagiso on the West Rand, goes through every day, watching her three-year-old baby Thandile who has a liver disease.

Thandile became ill when she was six weeks old. She underwent a stomach operation and it was discovered that she does not have a gall bladder and that her liver is dysfunctional.

Madikane, a contract worker, was told that Thandile needed a liver donor and that the operation would cost R500000. The Baby Thandile Madikane Trust Fund was started so that people could donate money for the operation.

Sipho Ngwetsheni, chairman of the trust, says: "We have collected R120000 already. The public has been very helpful. It is disappointing that private companies and government departments are not willing to assist."

Ngwetsheni says that a suitable donor was found for Thandile in September but they did not have enough money for the operation.

"The liver had to be given to another child who had the money for the operation," Madikane says.

Though there is a trust fund, Madikane still has to pay Thandile's hospital bills. The fund will only be used when a suitable donor is found.

Madikane says: "There were complications and she had to go to hospital a few weeks ago. That worries me. She also bleeds a lot. When she cries she starts bleeding internally. She also bleeds from the ears and nose when she falls.

"I do not want her to go to a creche because she is sick. She stays at home with my sister. She also eats a special diet and its very expensive. I just wish my baby would get well."