This photo, above (24.12.2007) , was the first photo of hundreds I took over the next few months.

I had an amazing obsession to always get out my mobile phone at every opportunity to take photos of what developed into a family nightmare!  Little did I realise at the time that I would one day write about our miracle and God’s goodness to us.

Clearly visible in the photo, just below the ankle are 2 wounds where pieces of welding flux burnt right through FJ’s boot and penetrated his flesh,  whilst he was welding beds for the orphans just a few weeks previously.

We washed and treated both wounds with disinfectant, put on antiseptic cream and covered them with a band aid. The doctors speculated that the bacteria may have entered through one of these wounds.

The Story continues ..............

We were living under camping conditions with no electricity available, so I stood next to the bed through out the night fanning him with an aluminum plate, it was the lightest hand held fan we had in the camp! I was so glad to see the sun come up the following morning. We contacted Sonya to bring in some antibiotic from South Africa and any other medication for gout and infection.

By the time she landed in Vilankulos he was not well at all, so we gave him all the medications she was able to bring with.  In a few hours it would be Christmas day, and we had booked in for a lovely family Christmas lunch at one of the lodges.

His knee was rather red and seemed to be swelling by the hour.  We had to do something urgently.  We contacted a family friend Jan another angel, who is a medical doctor in Pretoria, he said he would do anything to help.  We needed more powerful antibiotics, as it seemed we were dealing with a runaway fire!

We contacted one of the airlines to see if they could bring the much needed medication for us ...... brick wall!  They informed us that it was illegal.  We had contacted all the lodges and hotels in the area, but none of them had any form of medication even for emergencies for their own clients!

That night FJ said that his knee was unbelievably painful; this is most probably why we also considered the possibility of a spider bite.  We got him through the night again offering him sleeping tablets. Somehow when the sun rises one seems to find the strength to start another day.

The whole family insisted we would not go and have a Christmas meal without him; staying at the campsite would be perfect for all of us!  Being together is the greatest Christmas Gift we could have!

As sick as he was, he insisted that under no circumstances would this leg  ..... his leg .... spoil the enjoyment of his family!  Okay, Okay, let’s see if we could come to a compromise! Temperatures were soaring into the 40’s, he suggested sitting in the car!  We would make him comfortable and keep the air conditioner on.  The lodge allowed us to park almost in their front door, where there was shade over the car  ....... and so started our Christmas lunch!

Of course the meal was amazing, starters, seafood, roast duck, everything available in Mozambique, meaning even though we were so far from the source of the best ingredients in the world, we had the freshest!

We all took turns to take a small portion of food out to FJ trying to encourage him to just taste it but most came back untouched!  He did try the crisp honey duck, and although he doesn’t recall much of that day, he did remember the duck!  Two years later when we were able to celebrate Christmas lunch there again, the lodge repeated the exact same menu, so FJ could enjoy what he missed out 2 years before!  Now isn’t that service and kindness!

After some real hard pleading with the staff of the airline, they agreed that if we present the prescription and the cash they would personally purchase the medication for FJ and we would be able to collect it at noon the following day at the airport.  Now who on earth wants to be disturbed on a Christmas morning; there’s turkey to go into the oven, steam pudding to be made, leg of lamb to be roasted to go with the mint sauce!

Now another angel, Wanda one of the many angels that passed our way over the next few months, dropped everything, preparing Christmas turkey and all at 5 a.m. Christmas morning and took the faxed prescription and some cash to the airport, handed it to the airline staff so they could purchase the medicine at the O R Tambo chemist. Phew ...... that’s done!

Our great concern for our dad and husband sitting in the car made it rather difficult to enjoy the 5 star meal set before us. Around midday Sonya and Neil (Angels) left to collect the Metronidazol at the airport, and I tried to taste the Christmas dessert set before me.  FJ took the medication, but we could see he seemed to be succumbing to this painful leg. When we got back to the camp site, we helped him to a bed ......... this could not go on any longer!

I started phoning anyone I knew who lived in Vilankulos asking if they knew of any doctors in the vicinity.  There were 3 doctors in the town.  Two were on leave it seemed, and one was on call, but being Christmas day he was no doubt enjoying his family on some tropical island!

Finally much later that night, the doctor answered his mobile.  I explained the situation and the symptoms: no fine, he would attend to us the next day at the hospital.  “At the hospital!” I exclaimed, “but, but .....”  “Yes” he replied, “there is a tent ....”.  Vilankulos had been devastated by a cyclone hundreds of kilometers wide, with the epicenter being the town itself.  The hospital was totally destroyed, but some caring NGO had brought in tents to accommodate patients.

How painful for us, let alone FJ, we would have to endure another night of watching him suffer and we had no strong painkillers to give him any relief.

It was wonderful to see the sun rise the next day. Now after a good jab in the buttocks and some effective antibiotics, the healing process would start. We arrived at the ‘tents’ and found a wheel chair to take FJ to the admissions room, one little room that survived the cyclone!

He lay on the bed, with one leg missing, (the bed’s leg!) it was propped up on a stone - the cyclone had really left it’s mark!

Finally a couple of hours later the doctor came in, and after paying about 25 meticais, one US dollar, the admission fee, X-rays were taken of his knee.  Good for us, the radiologist said there didn’t seem to be a problem there.

FJ would have to be admitted as his condition was deteriorating rapidly.  We wheeled him into a huge tent to the bed which the nursing staff had quickly organised  for him.  It didn’t matter what the large dormitory style tent hospital looked like, or the odour inside from the stifling heat and everyone’s perspiration, we were getting help!

A few weeks before FJ got these “malaria symptoms” when there was no sign of the impending trauma, early one morning I went and sat next to him on the bed, I felt compelled to tell him something I tell him often!

“Love,” I said “I just want to tell you again, I love you.” Then with tears rolling down my cheeks I continued: “Maybe if one of us are close to death, and it’s not possible to utter a farewell, or express my love to you at that moment, I appreciate everything you always do for me, the way you treat me like the most precious person in the whole world, the way which you love our children without reserve. You are my whole world.”

When Frikkie was in the ICU, and was at death’s door for days, I had peace in my heart, I had confirmed my love and appreciation to him, just a few days earlier. Putting my arm around Sonya I told her, her dad and I have no regrets, we had spoken of how our final farewell might be just a few days previously, now we just need to cherish these last few moments together. At this stage our son Neil, was still on the road from Mozambique trying to get to his dad in time to say farewell.

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