Zinhle Mapumulo
Zinhle Mapumulo
Nhlanhla Nxoko, the toddler born with his heart on the right hand side of his chest, has died.
The two-year-old boy from White City, Soweto, died on Friday night at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital because of medical complications arising from his condition.
Nxoko was born with a rare organ reversal condition called dextrocardia.
Sowetan in June published a story detailing how the boy lived a normal life despite his condition.
The boy's grandmother, Jane Nyoka, yesterday said Nxoko's sudden death had left her with a broken heart.
"The little boy was like my own child. I raised him from birth to the end. His mother abandoned him three weeks after his birth.
"People around here adored him because he was such a happy child. I am deeply saddened," said Nyoka.
In addition to the condition, doctors also discovered he had a heart defect. One of his pulmonary arteries was partially closed, affecting the circulation of oxygen-rich blood in his body.
He underwent an operation to open the artery three weeks after birth. It is the same artery that caused his death.