My Boy, Gone At 18 Weeks

A Pretoria mom’s worst nightmare came true when the school called to tell her there was a problem with baby Jakes

- Jan Van Der Merwe

THE little boy was his usual lively self when his mom dropped him off at the daycare centre that morning – smiling nonstop and taking in his surroundings with wide-eyed wonderment.

It was little Jakes Fourie’s third day in daycare – his mom, Maxine, had just returned to her job at a recruitment company after four months’ maternity leave and like most new moms it broke her heart to leave her son.

Little did she realise it would be the last time she kissed her beloved baby goodbye.

Maxine (27) was at work when Rensche Nagel (64), head of the daycare centre in Pretoria East, called her.

There was a problem, she said: Jakes had been rushed to hospital. Medical staff had tried to save the 18-week-old baby for an hour but it was no use – little Jakes had died.

“I know he’s gone but I can’t accept it,” says Maxine in the first interview since the heartbreaking day two months ago. “I didn’t know what love was until Jakes came into my life.”

She’s finally able to speak about the tragic events of that day but for her partner, car salesman Jaco Oosthuizen (30), the loss of his son is still too raw.

“Some days are easier than others but I still can’t sleep,” Maxine says.

“The first weeks were a blur. I tried to dull the pain with medication at first but then decided to tackle it head-on and find peace, hope and mercy in God.”

When she received her son’s ashes in a blue box decorated with an aeroplane – a day after his memorial service – she felt a sense of closure.

But she’ll only truly be able to move on once she’s found out exactly what happened to her baby that day.

“I still have so many questions,” Maxine says.

“The school can go on with their everyday business but I have to walk into this empty house with empty arms every day.”