Some stories just make you smile. That was my reaction when I read last week about Knysna’s “micro-baby”, born three months premature, so tiny he could fit into the palm of a hand.
Doctors thought he might not survive, and said if he did, he would never be able to read or write or hold down a job, and would always be dependent on his parents. But that little baby, Jarryd Grootboom, has proved them wrong. Jarryd is now 23, happy, healthy and has a full-time job. The cherry on the top was getting his driver’s licence last month. For someone born at only 26 weeks, that is truly amazing. I phoned Jarryd at work and asked about his recent achievement. “I am very, very happy that I got my licence, thank you for asking.” He is also chuffed with the car he bought. His life growing up was not easy. His parents, Renee and Jeremy Grootboom, worked hard to help their son navigate his difficulties. “But Jarryd is a fighter. Where there’s a will there’s a way and I could see he had a strong will,” Renee said. Renee’s pregnancy problems started when she developed pre-eclampsia that can have serious health effects for both the mother and baby. She developed kidney failure and a scan showed that her baby was critically underweight. The doctors advised Renee to terminate her pregnancy – but she couldn’t do it. “We felt his life was not in our hands. If the Lord had decided this child must be, then he must be.” Knysna did not have the facilities for such a premature baby, so when Renee’s brother read about a doctor at Panorama Hospital in Cape Town who specialised in “micro-babies”, Renee was flown there. Jarryd was born by emergency Caesar and spent the first seven months of his life in hospital. One of the people who helped Jarryd’s early childhood development was Tania, a teacher at Knysna’s Teletubbies Crèche, who did physiotherapy with him every day. “Later he went to a mainstream school and had a very tough time,” Renee said. “He was behind in all his milestones. The teachers didn’t understand in those days.” Jeremy and Renee, a teacher herself, then sent him to Carpe Diem School in George that specialises in children with disabilities. There Jarryd thrived. “They have a programme that teaches children to prepare for the world of work. The school works with companies like Woolworths and places some of the kids there, where Jarryd works now. We are so thankful for that programme.” Jarryd is a determined person. When learning to drive, he walked to the driving school every day for months. “He put in all the effort, and it paid off.” Renee says many people knew about Jarryd as a baby because of news articles. “The first time we went to Pick ‘n Pay with him and his oxygen tank, people came up and said: ‘How’s our baby?’ We didn’t expect that reaction.” Jarryd’s parents are, of course, very proud of his achievements. “We want to encourage other people in the same situation – there is hope.”
