Those who held onto hope for newborn Mia and her family during her fight for survival will celebrate this wonderful news. She is home!
Cape Town, South Africa (27 July 2026) – Mia Hattingh was born on 1 July, and from her very first moments Earth-side, she and her parents faced a tremendously difficult uphill battle. Her mom, Delia, was diagnosed during pregnancy with a complete heart block, and doctors had prepared the family for the fact that she would need a pacemaker shortly after birth.
Soon after she was born, Mia’s tiny heart already went into failure. At just three days old, she underwent life-saving surgery to receive her pacemaker before being transferred to the Paediatric ICU, where she would spend weeks fighting to recover.
Martin and Delia Hattingh say those first days were almost impossible to put into words.
“She was transferred to the Paediatric ICU, where incredible nurses watched over her 24 hours a day. There were monitors tracking every heartbeat, every breath, her blood pressure and temperature. She had a ventilator helping her breathe, IV lines delivering medication, and a feeding tube providing milk and medicine.”
The hardest part was not being able to hold or comfort their newborn daughter. Day and night, they stood by her side and watched her fight.
“As parents, all we wanted to do was hold her. To comfort her. To tell her everything would be okay. But for those first few days, we couldn’t. Watching your child fight while feeling so helpless is something we hope no parent ever has to experience.”
As little Mia fought bravely for her life, an army of hope rallied around her.
A BackaBuddy campaign had been launched to help the Hattingh’s cover the growing costs of accommodation, travel, meals and medical expenses while they stayed by Mia’s side. South Africans showed up for the family. One anonymous donor contributed R100,000 towards their R150,000 goal. Together with many other donations, the campaign has now raised more than R121,000. Hundreds of messages, prayers and shares have also given the family strength and reminded them that they’re not alone.
As hope grew in numbers, Mia slowly started to recover. She grew stronger with every passing day until her parents were finally given the moment they had dreamed about. They got to hold her!
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Another milestone arrived when Mia was transferred out of ICU and into the paediatric ward. One by one, they continued. The heart monitor cables were removed. Then the feeding tube. And finally came the words they had been praying to hear.
“After spending almost every day in hospital from 30 June until 25 July, we walked out carrying our daughter in our arms instead of leaving her behind another set of hospital doors.”
Mia is now back at home with her family, ending a battle that has certainly left its mark, but starting a bright new chapter of hope.
“This journey has changed us forever. It taught us patience we never knew we had.
It strengthened our faith. It showed us how incredibly brave our little girl is.” shares Martin, Mia’s dad. “And it gave us a whole new appreciation for every doctor, nurse, dietician, physiotherapist, and member of the hospital staff who dedicate 12-hour shifts to caring for children and comforting worried parents. You are true heroes, and we can never thank you enough.”
The family extends their thanks to every person who prayed for Mia, shared messages of encouragement, donated to help ease the financial burden, or checked in to ask how she was doing. They believe every act of kindness helped carry them through one of the hardest chapters of their lives.
“Welcome home, Mia. Your story is only just beginning, and if these first few weeks have shown us anything, it’s that you are stronger than we could ever have imagined.”
For the full timeline of events and further updates about Mia, visit this website her family created to keep friends, family and supporters updated.
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