The little girl greets us excitedly at the front door. “Come in quickly,” she says. “We have doughnuts. The cats are going to eat them.”
Nicela Naudé is wearing gold sneakers that sparkle in the sun – much like her personality. The six-year-old always seems to be in a good mood, entertaining her parents with her constant chatter about all the things she loves, especially animals and her chihuahua, Dobby, named after the house elf in Harry Potter.
She’s so cheerful it’s hard to believe life has been full of challenges for this little girl, who was abandoned at birth and seemed destined for a life in children’s homes until Madelaine and Jacques Naudé fell in love with her.
Nicela has Klippel-Trénaunay Syndrome, a rare congenital condition found in only one in 100 000 people worldwide. It affects the development of blood vessels, soft tissue such as skin and muscle, and bones. The condition can lead to abnormal growth of soft tissue, resulting in lumps on the skin – and Nicela has had her fair share of them.
When YOU visited the family in July 2018, Nicela had just had a growth removed from her arm – one of the many surgeries she’s had since birth. Now she’s due for surgery again – this time to remove growths from her lymph nodes to test for malignancy.
It’s scary stuff but Nicela is unfazed. “I’m strong,” she says nonchalantly when asked about it.
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