Natasha Sanyanga’s story captured the hearts of many Zimbabweans last year when an appeal was sent out to raise US$100 000 needed for an urgent bone-marrow transplant at Apollos hospital in India in just 10 days’ time.
Through God’s grace, the money was raised and Natasha and her parents left the country on October 19 2013 and returned home two weeks ago.
Our reporter Phyllis Mbanje visited Natasha at the family home in Harare where her parents shared an amazing story of how the generosity of Zimbabweans saved their daughter’s life.
A bubbly Natasha Sanyanga runs around the room with her brother Raymond and comes back with an armload of teddy bears that she received from her mother and well-wishers.
She proudly shows off her collection which she treasures a lot. As Natasha rolls on the carpet in their lounge, there is absolutely no sign that she was at some point so critically-ill that her survival was not guaranteed.
“She is all over the place and at times we have to ask her to slow down,” says her mother Sylvia (31) as she gazes fondly at her daughter.
As if taking a cue, Natasha leaps onto her mother’s lap and hugs her tightly. Their happiness masks the arduous time they experienced over the past three months in faraway Hyderabad in India.
Natasha’s nightmare started with a few bruises on the arm and leg.
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Her parents simply assumed she had sustained these in friendly tussles with friends, but when the bruises did not seem to go, they decided to take her to the Avenues Clinic where a battery of tests were done.
“I didn’t suspect anything bad at all but my life was all of a sudden changed by a phone call I received from the hospital as I was doing my shopping in town. The doctor said I needed to come urgently to the clinic and I casually did so,” she said.
Sylvia was shocked when the doctor told her that her daughter had a life-threatening disease called aplastic anaemia. Before she could comprehend what it all meant, the doctor delivered another blow. The disease could not be cured in Zimbabwe and the only option she had was to take Natasha for regular blood transfusions.
“I could not believe what I was hearing. My baby would now be receiving blood transfusions every week to keep her alive and that too was no guarantee to save her life,” said Sylvia. “You don’t know what it feels like to be told your child who has always been healthy is now going to die from a disease for which treatment is not available,” she said.
The Sanyangas then started hunting around for a facility outside Zimbabwe that could offer them treatment.
“We went to South Africa and tried to get quotations but the fees were so high. We were now getting frantic and Natasha was not doing so well. We needed to get help fast,” she said.
As fate would have it, a team of doctors from Apollos, India, came to Zimbabwe offering free heart surgeries.
“A friend arranged a meeting with the doctors and they agreed to do the surgery at half the price. We had been assured that Apollos was one of the best health facilities but after the quotations, we still needed about US$100 000,”she said.
Despite the high figure involved, the Sanyangas were not deterred. All that mattered was to save the life of their little girl.
“We did not have that kind of cash but one thing was very clear, we would go all out to get that money. Immediately a group of friends started bouncing around ideas of raising the cash. We only had 10 days to do that as her condition was now more serious than ever,” said Sylvia.
Her condition meant that her bone marrow had shut down and stopped making new blood cells, meaning she had no immune system to fight off diseases.
An appeal for help was sent out and local celebrities from all over came together to help raise the funds. An appeal was also posted on YouTube and a Facebook account was opened, all in a bid to raise the required amount.
“What is amazing however is that it is the ordinary people on the streets who extended their hands and gave. The commuter omnibus drivers, the vendors, people from church, it was overwhelming,” says Sylvia.
A corporate dinner was held at Bliss Gardens and Oliver Mtukudzi and several other artists performed. Mtukudzi brought tears to many when he sang, Seiko. Artwork done by Natasha at her preschool was auctioned and people paid as much as US$1 000 for it.
However, during the dinner event, something they had not anticipated happened; an announcement was made that an anonymous donor had paid US$45 000 to the Indian hospital.
“I stood there with tears running down my cheeks. It was the best news in a long time. When it was shared the whole room broke out in cheers of joy. People cried and hugged each other. I will never forget that moment,” she said.
Little Natasha, whose health was fast deteriorating, flew to India with her mother, father (Eddie) and her brother, Raymond on October 19.
But the next three months became the most trying times of their life. “Can you imagine having a very sick child in a foreign country and being told she could die at any stage of the medical procedures.”
There was another crucial thing. They needed a donor whose matching stem cells could be harvested and then transplanted to Natasha. Sylvia and Eddie prayed Natasha would find a match and amazingly, it was her brother, Raymond, who became the donor.
“The tests for Raymond came back 10 out of 10. He was the perfect match. Doctors said it was very rare but we were just thankful,” a teary Sylvia said.
For almost a week, Natasha got started on chemotherapy while Raymond got injections every day to boost his cells so that they could be harvested and given to Natasha.
The chemotherapy was meant to destroy her afflicted cells and make way for the new ones. She became highly susceptible to infections as she had no immunity to fight and was quarantined in her ward.
“My heart broke when I stood there watching both my two babies on hospital beds. Raymond was only three years old and for six hours they drew blood from his little body and harvested the cells. He cried as I held him and tried to console him,” she said.
November 26 was Natasha’s birthday. That is the day the doctors had chosen for the transplant but when they learnt that it was her birthday, they decided to host a little party for the little girl.
However, a day after the celebrations, Natasha underwent the transplant. Her family anxiously waited and prayed she would come out healed.
The doctors had warned us that there was what they called a graft/host disease. This is whereby the body will reject the new cells. It was traumatic being told we would know after 100 days if her body had really accepted and adjusted to the new set up.”
After the transplant the effects of the chemo sessions she had undergone took hold.
“I remember that day she had 16 bouts of diarrhoea. She also lost her hair. Nothing prepares you for that. I had told her that she would receive a magical haircut but when a huge clump of hair came away during bath time, I cried,” said Sylvia, who had also cut her hair as moral support for her daughter.
The family spent Christmas in India far away from their home. “We had hoped that by December we would be home but that was not to be. The grandmothers (her mother and her husband’s) left first and then my husband also, since he had been away from work for three months.”
However, despite what she was going through, Natasha had an uncanny knack of drawing people to her and relate to her story.
The minister of Health and Child Care, David Parirenyatwa paid her a visit and turned her into an instant celebrity.
Natasha and her mother finally came home on February 9 this year. Although Natasha will not be going to school or public places for the next year since she might catch infections as she is still under treatment, she is a picture of good health.
A thanksgiving service will be held at Anglican Church in Harare on Friday at 6pm.
