Count your blessings

My son was born with a heart defect. For five years I’ve watched my boy fight illness. I’ve seen trauma and felt it. I’ve watched my baby die and miraculously survive. I sit by his side in hospital and never leave it.

The pain he endures and the emotional trauma I endure watching them pin him down for drips and blood tests is gut-wrenching. To watch him drink chronic meds daily breaks my heart. To hand him to a doctor to be put to sleep to have his chest cut open is the hardest thing in the world to do. This experience has taught me to trust other human beings.

Moms and dads with healthy children, be grateful. Hug your babies extra tight in their beds and be grateful it’s not a hospital bed. Love them and tell them that.

I wish I could give my heart to my son so he could live like a normal fiveyear-old. I’ve cried, screamed and then carried on. Appreciate all the small things in life, half of which my boy can’t do. And don’t feel guilty because your baby is healthy. Be happy and praise God for your miracle. Just consider yourself blessed. CAITLIN TROLLIP, BRAKPAN

I’m a single parent of an amazing daughter who’s 19 years old. She’s epileptic and has had cerebral palsy since birth. My unemployed mom lived with us.

I’ve always been an introvert, then I had to work shifts with a colleague. We became friends and worked well together. We soon realised we had feelings for each other but this was against company policy.

Then my mom passed away and the love of my life became critically ill. We tied the knot in 2014. I’d found love but it was not to be. Fate stepped in and took my husband away as well. Now I’m back to being a single parent. The difference? No work, no mom, no husband. I’m just lost. SAD MOM, EMAIL