Our Double Blessing

Three years after the death of their baby theKrugers unexpectedly found themselves the parents of two precious tots  

- Pieter Van Zyl

THE two fair-haired tots are playing with blocks and plastic farm animal toys on the carpet in the family’s holiday cabin at Great Brak River on the southern coast of the Western Cape. They’re so alike you can’t help wondering if they’re twins.

“Pack away!” the little girl instructs her brother and he dutifully obeys. Sharing their toys and getting on is all part and parcel of growing up with a sibling the same age – but there’s something extra special about these “twins”.

They’re both two years old but Yadah is seven months older than Benjamin.

“Even though she’s half his size,” mom Adéle Kruger (36) says with a laugh.

“Yadah’s the independent one – a go getter, busy and inquisitive. Benjamin’s more of a sensitive soul. They’re the best of friends.”

The pigeon pair are the centre of graphic artist Adéle’s universe – two “miracle children” born after years of despairing whether she’d ever have another child.

Adéle made headlines a few years ago when she wrote a heartbreaking blog about her firstborn’s life-and-death struggle (YOU, 5 January 2012).

Tabitha was born 10 weeks early weighing just 1,3 kg and survived for 53 days.

“The nurse phoned and I knew Tabitha’s time had come,” Adéle wrote in her blog about her daughter’s final day.

“The doctor said she wasn’t looking good. They suspected she had a blocked artery in her lower body. Her oxygen settings were high. I could see she wanted to leave us for a better place.

“Wessel [her engineer husband] took photos of us and the nurse took photos of the three of us. I asked them to take the tube out of her mouth through which she received her feeds. I also asked them to draw the curtains so we could have some privacy.