An emotional reunion at Stepping Stone Hospice
“Looking at Irineia today, I can only express my absolute gratitude for the miracle of recovery from cancer,” an emotional Tersia said.
Scenes of an emotional reunion played out at the Stepping Stone Hospice In-Patient Unit (IPU) in New Market Park on February 25, 2020 when former hospice patient Irineia Perreira popped in to greet the staff and the CEO, Tersia Burger.
Irineia was a patient in the hospice’s IPU in January 2017 when she went into premature labour at the unit.
An ambulance was summoned and after an emergency caesarean and a few days spent in the Netcare Clinton Hospital ICU, both mom and baby were released back into the care of the nurses and carers at Stepping Stone Hospice.
Little Tersia Pereira was named after Stepping Stone’s very own ‘mom’ and CEO Tersia Burger.
Irineia based her decision at the time on the fact that Tersia was at the hospital when she gave birth and had been a constant pillar of support for her at the IPU.
It was also the first time in the hospice’s history that a care and nursing team turned a patient’s room into a fully functional nursery, complete with cot next to Irineia’s bed so she could spend as much precious time with her little one as possible.
Irineia, who was 27 years old then, and originally from central Angola where she worked as a clerk at the magistrate court in Lobito, was admitted to Stepping Stone’s IPU shortly before Christmas 2016 after a referral from Dr Sylvia Rodrigues, a well-known oncologist in Alberton and active member of the Stepping Stone care team.
Already a mother to a daughter aged four and a two-year-old son, Irineia came to South Africa in the hopes of finding a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan after becoming very ill in September 2015 and being initially misdiagnosed back home.
“Looking at Irineia today, I can only express my absolute gratitude for the miracle of recovery from cancer,” an emotional Tersia said on Tuesday.
“When Irineia expressed a wish at the end of January 2017 that she wanted to return to her family, her husband and two other children in Angola, we thought that we were sending her home to die.
“And yet, here she is, returning for her annual check-ups with Dr Rodrigues, looking great and displaying an attitude of optimism and a zest for life,” Tersia said.
Family friend and translator, Carlos, visited with Irineia on Tuesday and helped with relaying her thoughts as Irineia speaks Portuguese and has limited understanding of English.
Through translation she told the staff that little Tersia is doing well, that she is attending a day-care centre in Lobito and loves her traditional South African food, with pap and chicken as her favourite.
And if anyone asks, she makes sure to tell them that Tersia is indeed a South African and not an Angolan as she was born in South Africa and has a SA identity document.”
Irineia will continue with her annual check-ups with Dr Rodrigues. “She will always remain our patient if she should ever need us again, we will most certainly take care of her. There will always be a room for her,” Tersia said.
