Miracle baby celebrates 2nd birthday with rescuers

Polokwane - Miracle baby Tendani Mashudu turns 2 on Sunday. Celebrating with her will be the rescue team who saved her life.

Two years ago, on 10 August 2012, Tendani's mother was killed when a train hit the car in which she was a passenger.

She was eight months pregnant with Tendani, but fate ensured that Tendani would survive.

For some reason, operations manager of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Limpopo, David Dennison, took a different route to work that morning.

“Along the way, a tow truck driver stopped him and told him about an accident between a car and a train," said provincial health spokesperson Adele van der Linde on Thursday.

She said Dennison went straight to the scene, calling paramedic Eugene Schreiber at advanced life support for immediate assistance.

The driver of the car was injured but stable, but Tendani's mother, who was in the back seat, had died of serious head injuries.

“With no signs of breathing or even a pulse from the woman, we examined her abdomen, listening for any sign of life. I heard no heartbeat. Then, suddenly I felt a tiny kick.” said Dennison.

The entire team sprang into action, doing CPR on Tendani's mother to ensure oxygen continued to flow to the baby.

They raced to Polokwane provincial hospital, where an emergency Caeserian section was performed on the stretcher in the casualty ward.

Tendani was delivered in record time. By then, she had no pulse and wasn't breathing, so CPR was done on her little body and soon her vital signs were strong.

Today, she lives with her aunt.