Happy homecoming for heart baby Michael

"We said goodbye to him a few times," Michael van Wyk's mom, Talitha Kruger, 22, said on Tuesday morning just before boarding a flight home to Port Elizabeth with her healthy baby.

For the past few weeks the little boy's fighting spirit has inspired the Nelson Mandela Bay Community - his parents even started his own page on Facebook for him to inform everybody of his progress.

On the cover page they wrote: "Greatness is not measured by money or stature but by courage and heart." 

Kruger said: "I don't even have the words to describe how happy I am to bring him home."

In the first 11 weeks of his life, Michael, weighing barely 2kg, had two heart attacks, two lumbar punctures, 16 blood tests and eight drips.

He had sepsis and one of his lungs collapsed.

Michael, was born in December with a severe heart defect.

As the catheterisation laboratory (cathlab) at Port Elizabeth's Provincial Hospital was and remains out of order, he could not be helped at public hospitals in the metro.

The cathlab is not expected to be back in full operation before the end of July.

Doctors have since the beginning of the month been helping children at Netcare Greenacres Hospital.

He also needed life-saving pediatric heart surgery that was not available in the province at the time.

After several months in hospital the Eastern Cape Department of Health flew him to Red Cross Hospital.

In a day of drama for the little one he was flown to Cape Town in April – first by helicopter, and then after the aircraft had to turn around due to inclement weather, he was transported by air ambulance.

He was moved to Red Cross Hospital a month ago where he had open heart surgery in the first week of May.

During the surgery, that took several hours, surgeons fixed holes between the left and right side of his heart and the valves that control the blood flow between the chambers.

He recovered well after the surgery and to his parents' joy, he gained close to 1kg and started drinking milk again.

Shortly before his discharge his heart started beating out of rhythm, too fast and too slow.

Kruger said he had, however, responded well to medication. He was discharged on Tuesday morning.

"These last couple of months drained us all, emotionally and mentally. We had to go say goodbye to Michael a few times thinking he will not survive and we were at a point where we made peace with that. 

"We are really so grateful for everyone who helped us through it all," Kruger said.

"She specifically mentioned Port Elizabeth based NGO Wings and Wishes that flew her and Michael home on Tuesday and the Out of Africa Children's Foundation that provided Michael's parents with accommodation near the hospital. 

"I also want to thank everyone on Michael's Facebook page who prayed with us each day. Our greatest thanks go to Red Cross. They really went out of their way to help us."