A Mitchell’s Plain mom is appealing for help to host a sweet 16 birthday party for her son who miraculously survived a car crash and is now suffering from cerebral palsy.
Ibtisaam Clarke, 34, says she will never forget the day she saw her three-year-old son, Mogamat Zaakir, being flung in the air and landing on his head.
Despite doctors giving the little boy only three days to live he survived and on 24 December, 13 years later, he will be celebrating his 16th birthday.
Ibtisaam says on 4 July 2006, she took her little boy to a local supermarket and had no idea it would be the day he almost died.
“The night before I was not feeling right. Zaakir was three at the time and we were walking to Winners. We were walking and laughing and for a moment he left my hand and ran over the road. A blue car came past and he was hit. He was flung in the air and landed on his head. I just rushed to him and the driver took us to Red Cross Hospital.”
Zaakir was admitted immediately but shortly afterwards the doctors told Ibtisaam to prepare herself to say goodbye to her baby boy as he was brain dead and would not live for more than three days.
“I just asked them if they thought they were God and we continued to make dua. Everyone prayed and he survived and at Red Cross we met another three-year-old boy, Brian Diamond, who was also declared brain dead after he was shot in the head but he also survived and the two boys stayed in the ward for the longest.”
Ibtisaam says when they returned home from hospital she was forced to raise her son on her own who now suffers from Cerebral Palsy and gave up her dream of becoming a nurse.
“He became my priority and I gave up becoming a nurse to nurse my child. It has been hard over the past 13 years raising him. He is fed with a tube and must be fed six times a day. I raised him only using the money from my Sassa grant and recently got a job so I have trained a relative to look after him.
“He has three other siblings now who all love him and together we make it work.”
She says while other teens enjoying going to parties and meeting girls, Zaakir’s childhood is filled with 24-hour care and daily medication.
“As his birthday is coming up we want to host an all white party to help him celebrate and just for once he can feel like a normal teen but we don’t have the funds.
“In 2016 Zaakir and Brian were featured in the Daily Voice in a party hosted for the two of them and we would live to reconnect with Brian’s family because we lost touch over the years.”
If you would like to assist call Ibtisaam on 084 547 3634.