Shortly after her birth three years ago, this little girl from Nelson Mandela Bay spent months fighting for her life when a parasitic twin was discovered inside her, draining her tiny body of life.
Today, little Inganathi Stalmeester who recently celebrated her third birthday, is a healthy, bubbly toddler that loves pizza and playing with a huge doll, Alvin, that actually has a strong resemblance to the chipmunk from the children’s animated series, Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Looking at the smile on her face at her birthday party, hosted by NPO, Wings and Wishes, it’s hard to believe that Inganathi was once so weak, that her she had to rely on a ventilator in order to survive her time in hospital.
Inganathi’s mother, Cindy Stalmeester, said that what her daughter went through, is every parent’s nightmare. “When I saw my baby so sick, it was a nightmare but my faith kept me strong.
“I knew that I had to be strong for her and couldn’t let her see me falling apart because she received her strength from me. I never stopped praying for her well-being,” she said.
According to Cindy, she had a healthy pregnancy and doctors couldn’t pick up any abnormalities during her routine scans.
They always said that the baby was developing beautifully, but when Inganathi developed a bloated stomach two weeks after her birth on June 6, 2018, Cindy knew that something was horribly wrong.
After a potion from a traditional healer did not help, Cindy got some money together and took her baby to a medical doctor, who referred her to a local hospital.
After some tests and scans were done, Inganathi was diagnosed with a pancreatic tumour and referred to Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.
Since Inganathi was too weak for surgery when she arrived at Red Cross, for a month, while her baby relied on intravenous feeding, Cindy had to watch Inganathi’s condition worsen.
When she was placed on a ventilator in November 2018, her parents agreed to surgery and a huge growth was removed from her abdomen.
Test results revealed that the growth was a foetus in fetu – a rare condition where one of the twins is inside the body of the other. The enveloped twin thus becomes a parasite and depends on the host twin for survival, by drawing on the host twin’s blood supply.
“I am very grateful that Inganathi reached this age. It was said that since the host twin has to ‘feed’ the parasitic twin nutrients from a single umbilical cord, they usually die before birth, but she is reaching all her milestones and doctors are happy with her progress. I believe that we will still celebrate many more birthdays with her,” Cindy explained. “She is a happy child, full of love and enjoys playing with her big sister. She is the apple of my eye,” Cindy said with a smile.
Cindy said that she sometimes wondered what it would have been like to have twins.
“I wonder how she feels because she had a bond with her twin as it grew inside of her.
“I also wonder if she feels that anything is missing in her life due to what happened to her and it makes me really sad,” she admitted.
When asked whether twins run in the family, Cindy answered that her grandmother had three sets of twins, but that all of them had passed away.
“Never in a million years did I think that I would also have twins,” she said.
She added that her children are everything to her. Inganathi has two siblings, Akona and Luyanda.
“Our little angel, Inganathi, is our last born. My kids are my pride and joy. I love them a lot and I will always do everything in my power to keep them safe and sound.”
Cindy also wanted to thank Wings and Wishes for everything they have done for her and Inganathi.
“May God bless you all abundantly. We love you all and you’ll always have a special place in our hearts.”
