Hayden Campaign

In Loving Memory of our little warrior Hayden de Braak

At 3 months pregnant we were told our baby boy had a severe diaphragmatic hernia as well as his heart had shifted, he would have required a surgery shortly after birth to fix this defect and his chance of survival was 50/50.

We decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. After being referred to a specialised hospital with specialised doctors mom would have to receive steroid injections at 7 months pregnant to strengthen the bit of lung he had. Mommy was admitted and received the injections, but that same night they realised she was going into labour. Hayden would have had to be carried full term for a better chance of survival. Mommy ended up being in hospital for 2 months on constant medication and monitoring to slow down the labor as no matter what they did they could not stop it. 

Hayden started growing slower and mom started getting weaker, but she kept preserving and did not want to stop fighting until she got severe preeclampsia and early sign of kidney failure. The doctors had no choice but to take Hayden out a week and half earlier. 

During the c-section they had to incubate him before cutting the umbilical cord as his lungs would deflate too quickly and he would have passed. Once he was successfully incubated they quickly showed him to mom upon which he had a tear roll down his cheek when she spoke to him. 

They postponed the surgery as he was very unstable. At 6 days old he had his surgery and he became extremely ill and unstable afterwards. We spend the night next to his cot and slept in the hospital passage as they had told us to stay close by. At 8 days old Hayden passed away just after 17:00, on the 26th of October (his father’s birthday) as he had organ failure and a severe lack of oxygen. They tried everything in their power to pull him through and not even the experimental drugs from Australia helped.

During these 8 days mom did not leave his side although she was extremely ill herself. 

This had absolutely shattered our hearts. 

Although we have a medical aid the plan we are on does not have this specialised hospital on it’s network list and the co-payment condition of 35% on accounts apply. We have tried our best to convince our medical aid with motivation letters but unfortunately there is no assistance from their end. 

We tried to bring a beautiful baby boy in this world and we are now drowning in sorrow and debt.