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South Africans have opened their hearts and wallets to a father of newborn twin girls whose wife died while giving birth.
Just more than R160,000 had been raised to assist Sam Nonyane raise his children as a single parent.
When Nonyane took his pregnant wife to hospital in January, he anticipated he would return home with a mother and baby. Little did they know she was expecting twins and that she would lose her life after delivering the second surprise baby.
“I am getting better, but it is not easy,” Nonyane told TimesLIVE on Tuesday.
“It was unexpected. All I knew was that I would go home with my wife and we would raise our child together,” he added.
Nonyane said his wife played an important role in their family and he was grappling with raising four children on his own, with the help family.
“I was scared and heartbroken after hearing that my wife had died, but I told myself that I will not run away from my children. [I knew] it would not be easy, but I want to feel the pain that my wife felt when she was pregnant for nine months …” he said.
While Nonyane battled with the news, he had to explain to his other children, aged three and six, what had transpired. They had accompanied their parents to hospital to witness the birth.
After the tragedy, the family made a stop at the Cradlestone Mall, before heading home. Nonyane held the newborn twins, Mmadi and Kgopotso, in his arms while his elder children pushed the trolley, collecting baby items.
The girls names hold deep meaning. Mmadi means blood and Kgopotso loosely translates to remembrance.
It was on that shopping trip that Nonyane caught the attention of a good Samaritan, Allet Van Zyl.
“I saw this man walking past with two bundles of joy and wondered where their mother was … I wondered if I should just go and greet or not, as some people would take offence,” Van Zyl told TimesLIVE.
Read more the story on TimesLIVE
BY: NONKULULEKO NJILO
SOURCE: TMG DIGITAL