Angelina's Ashes - We Take Our Girl Everywhere

Her short life had a big impact

- Lynley Ward

On a late spring morning in a brightly decorated room at a South Australian hospital, baby Angelina Adelaide Matekohi was being cradled by her doting mum and dad.

After many weeks of praying for a miracle for their six-month-old, who was born at just 23 weeks, first time parents Reg and Mau Matekohi faced the hardest decision they’d ever made. They took their daughter off the ventilator machine that was keeping her alive.

Surrounded by whanau who had travelled to Adelaide to support the young Waikato couple, the last precious moments of their baby’s life were spent holding her closely and telling her how much she meant to them.

Through tears, Reg, 23, recalls the final words he spoke to his daughter. “I said thank you because she did far more for us and her family than we could’ve ever done for her. She taught us a lot.”

“It was a tough day for us,” adds Mau. “I cherished cuddling Angelina for the last time. I was still staying very positive, but I told her, ‘If you leave us, then God’s will be done and I know you definitely tried your best.’”