On Saturday, John Ntshabele made a final trip from Cape Town to iThemba Lam baby home in Forest Hill with 104 tiny beanies, teddy bears, a cuddly elephant toy and a fluffy bunny.
In a bag there was an uncompleted blanket that his beloved wife had started knitting for their unborn baby boy and a few balls of apricot, blue and biscuit-coloured wool she had chosen.
This was part of the donation Ntshabele’s Swiss wife, Sophie, had asked him to make before she died on November 24, just 11 months after their wedding.
In a heartbreaking account of the past year, Ntshabele told of his wife’s fight to keep her baby, refusing to have an abortion after she was diagnosed with cancer while pregnant.
He told how she underwent chemotherapy in vain while mourning the death of her son.
“These were all the items we had collected awaiting the birth of our son, Enzo,” Ntshabele, who works as an engineer in the Western Cape, said.
“Sophie loved being an expression of the Lord Jesus to all people, but particularly pregnant women and newborns.
“She was a midwife by training and had a passion to see to the wellbeing of every pregnant woman or baby she came across.”
He said Sophie was diagnosed with cancer in July, when she was five months pregnant with their son.
“My wife demonstrated her zeal to protect the vulnerable, by choosing to carry the pregnancy as far as possible to give our little boy a chance to live.
“The first oncologist we saw told us we had to terminate the pregnancy but that was contrary to our faith as we both believe in sanctity of life and my wife chose that, if it meant she gave up her life to give our little boy a chance, that was the way she would go.”
The tumour, however, was fast-growing and in the 26th week of her pregnancy, urgent surgery was undertaken to make space for the baby to grow and the tumour removal was miraculously successful.
“This was a miracle because the doctors had told us before the surgery that the operation was very risky and there was a chance Sophie might not come out of it alive.
“But not only did she survive it, her recovery from it astounded the doctors as she was off the ventilator after 15 hours, instead of seven days as the doctors had expected.
“The tragedy was they found out that our little boy had already passed on a few hours before the surgery started – but she at least had the bulk of the tumour removed.”
While mourning the loss of their little boy, Sophie then underwent chemotherapy.
“The cancer cells, which had already affected her liver, were resistant to treatment.
“In the last few weeks before leaving this world, she expressed her desire to donate all we had already collected for our little boy Enzo to a baby home and we agreed on iThemba Lam.
“Among the items I delivered were handmade beanies by our grandmother in Switzerland that she would give out to needy mothers or pregnant women.
“Sophie would have loved to be there to deliver the items herself, but she left this world on November 24 2018.
“It was exactly 11 months after our wedding. Her faith still lives on and is impacting lives even today.
“Though sorrowful about her passing together with our little boy, I have this hope that I will see them again in heaven or on the day of resurrection.
“That is the hope that our Lord Jesus has given to us who believe in Him,” he said.
“We met in 2015, when I was on holiday in the US.
“My wife was my best friend. She loved generously. She was so compassionate.
“To me she was an example of what it means to live for others and love like Jesus did.”
Kim Fankhauser, of iThemba Lam baby home, said she and her husband had known Ntshabele for many years.
“I never had the privilege to meet Sophie,” she said.
“It was with tender hearts that we received these items.
“Sophie started a blanket she could not finish.
“Let me know if anyone is keen to finish it.”