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The past three weeks have been the most challenging of their lives, says the grandmother of one-year-old Jaydené Croucamp-Bester, the toddler who suffered severe burns over a third of her body last month.
When the little girl was released from Dora Nginza Hospital in Port Elizabeth on Friday, the family could finally have some relief after the days and weeks spent worrying.
Debbie Bester, Jaydené’s grandmother, told YOU that the little girl’s mom, Jackie Croucamp, couldn’t be happier about having her little girl back home for the first time since the accident. The incident occurred on 15 July when the toddler pulled down a pan with hot oil from the stove.
“At times more than a week would go by during which Jackie wasn’t allowed to hold Jaydené in her arms. The whole thing really shook us – it was terribly bad.
“We spent hours with Jaydené in hospital and cried a lot of tears over her. But we came to realise how much inner strength little Jaydené has. She’s our little miracle – and I wholeheartedly believe she’ll fully recover,” Debbie says.
The toddler will be home for two weeks before going back to hospital for a fourth skin graft – this time for the back of her neck.
“Since being released from hospital on Friday, we have to go back every two days for her dressings to be changed.
“She’s still in a lot of pain and it breaks [my] heart to see her suffer, especially when the dressings are changed. But she’s coping – she’s our little fighter.”
Debbie says in the coming weeks she and Jackie will take turns taking Jaydené to hospital.
She adds there’s a long road to recovery still ahead, but she and the rest of the family will once again look to their faith and the prayers of others for strength.
“We know everything’s not going to be OK just like that. But things could’ve been so much worse. We could’ve lost our little princess.”
