Little Renesmé’s story captured the hearts of South Africans near and far. Her fight will be remembered forever.
Johannesburg, South Africa (21 May 2020) – Exactly a week after we broke the story about little Renesmé, we are incredibly emotional to bring you an update on the little princess who fought so hard.
At just 23-days old, little Renesmè had not had the easiest start to her life, but that did not stop her from fighting or inspiring others to help her to try to win this battle.
The brave little fighter was diagnosed with Pulmonary Atresia with Hypoplastic Pulmonary Arteries with no main pulmonary artery. Dentrical PDA and balanced ventricles with a ventricular-sepal defect.
She needed surgery urgently to save her life. Little Renesmé was in a General Public Hospital in Johannesburg. The family had just been informed that they would not be able to operate as her life expectancy is almost null according to the public hospital, and she would have to be moved to a private hospital.
But that was a week ago… before the public raised hundreds and thousands of Rands to help this baby and family, and miraculously Bonitas changed their decision (after days of saying no) to help little Renesmé.
Sadly on the evening of the 21 May 2020, after an intricate operation, little Renesmé’s heart gave in.
This was the statement from Diana Becker founder of “A little help 4 a little Heart” after the operation at 6 pm on the 21 May 2020:
Cardio-Thoracic Surgeon; Dr Edrich Schürmann and his team at – Maboneng Heart & Lung Institute – Netcare Sunninghill Hospital, performed surgery on our little heart princess “Renesmé Filmater” today.
We kept the lengthy procedure confidential to protect the privacy of the family & medical team.”
For Tiffany & Anton, it was one of the most stressful days, the waiting, the wondering, the hoping – but Faith and Trust are what kept them going.
“We are happy to confirm that the surgery was a success, but little Renesmé is kept under strict observation and remains critical. I am pleased that Dr Schürmann contacted us directly to give an official update; it showed his absolute compassion and involvement.”
Below the official report (also see attached)
Foundation update:
Baby Renesmé underwent surgery on the 21st May 2020 at the Maboneng Heart & Lung Institute at the Netcare Sunninghill Hospital. The operation was successful. The pulmonary arteries were enlarged, and an artificial shunt was inserted to augment her pulmonary blood flow.
She is currently in ICU in a critical but stable condition and will require close observation and management in the next few days.
“We would like to thank all the donors and the public for their interest and hope that her case highlights the dire need for congenital heart surgery in South Africa.”
At 9:21 pm we received the news that the little princess had passed away:
“After weeks of fighting, state hospital taking little Renesmé off her medication and her machines, getting her transferred to Sunninghill hospital going through open-heart surgery, unfortunately, a few minutes ago she passed away.
RIP Renesmé our little angel, you my angel are loved by many fly high sweet baby.” – Jaques Anthony van Rensburg