Little Mia-Miri Wessels, the six-year-old “little lionheart” who is currently fighting leukemia – or blood cancer. (Photo: Little Lionheart Mia-Miri/Facebook)
While most people at this time of year only admire the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean from afar, Daantjie Rossouw, a teacher from Lochnerhof Primary School, braved the icy water earlier this week and covered the just over 7 km between Robbeneiland and Bloubergstrand.
For him it was not simply a personal endurance challenge; every stroke against the waves was a “prayer” for little Mia-Miri Wessels, the six-year-old “little lionheart” who is currently fighting leukemia – or blood cancer.
For the Wessels family from the Strand, everything changed in the blink of an eye on 15 August last year when Mia-Miri’s diagnosis was confirmed. Amarynka Wessels, Mia-Miri’s mother, says this is a moment for which no parent can ever really be prepared.
“That day we didn’t just get a diagnosis… we stepped into a new life – one full of uncertainty, fear and questions that don’t always have answers. Everything that once felt normal suddenly became distant and strange.
For the Wessels family from the Strand, everything changed in the blink of an eye on 15 August last year when Mia-Miri’s diagnosis was confirmed. (Photo: Little Lionheart Mia-Miri/Facebook)
“Our life has changed to hospital corridors, treatments, waiting times and days that no longer go according to plan. Things that were once small and self-evident have suddenly become precious. Like a good day, a smile and a moment without pain.”
She describes her little girl as a “gentle soul with a big heart.”
“Mia-Miri is not the kind of child who loudly announces her strength; she is an outsider who finds her happiness in the finer things of God’s creation. She is brave, but in a quiet way.
“She doesn’t have to show how strong she is, she just is. It shows in the little things: How she keeps trying, how she doesn’t complain and just keeps going, even if it’s hard. She picks up pebbles, no matter what they look like. Each one is special to her, each one gets a name and a story. It’s the same with snails.
“She sees life, value and beauty where others might just pass by.”
Amarynka says the reality of what the disease does to a six-year-old is physically and emotionally exhausting.
“In one month, Mia-Miri lost 8 kg. Her little body got smaller every day. She couldn’t eat. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t talk. She just lay there and showed no emotions. When her hair started falling out, she didn’t cry. She didn’t ask why. She lay there with her small, thin arms and pulled out her own hair – one piece at a time.”
The noticeable deterioration went hand in hand with the constant presence of medical equipment. Mia-Miri had to get a nasogastric tube for feeding and her days were filled with the sounds of monitors and the sharp smell of disinfectants.
“We have gone to the hospital so many times just for treatment and then, unexpectedly, stayed there because a fever comes up suddenly and without warning, and her body can’t always fight as it should. Then a day just becomes a week in the hospital,” says Amarynka.
(Photo: Little Lionheart Mia-Miri/Facebook)
Don’t fight alone
It is against this background of extreme hardship that Rossouw decided to brave the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Mia-Miri’s older sister, Merieke (9), is a learner at Lochnerhof Primary School where Rossouw serves on the management team.
Daantjie Rossouw, a teacher from Lochnerhof Primary School, braved the icy water earlier this week and covered the just over 7 km between Robbeneiland and Bloubergstrand. (Photo: Provided)
“It’s one of those things you can’t plan – it just happens, in a way that makes you believe people’s hearts are still incredibly beautiful,” says Amarynka about Rossouw.
“We didn’t know each other. He only saw Mia-Miri’s story and it captured his heart. He didn’t need to get involved, but he chose to become part of her story. In a time where everything feels heavy, where the days are long and the road is getting harder, someone like Daantjie comes and shows you that you are not alone.”
Rossouw says the decision to brave the cold water was rooted in a personal spiritual journey and a history with cancer in his own family. He has the book Chase the Lion began reading when his wife, Lorinda, was receiving treatment for breast cancer. The book is about tackling challenges that are so big that you can’t do it without God’s help.
He says the route between Robbeneiland and Bloubergstrand has long been a challenge that scared him but also excited him. He began preparing for the challenge soon after Mia-Miri’s diagnosis.
“It’s like Mia-Miri and her family, who are challenged every day by medication, treatments, tests and results. The mental preparation and discipline was more difficult than the physical aspect of it, probably because I’m getting older! You have to ask yourself the question: How badly do you want it and what are you willing to sacrifice for it?”
The morning of the long swim the conditions were challenging.
The water temperature dropped to 13 °C in places. For Rossouw, the 7.4 km through the water was a time of seclusion, prayer and deep reflection. He tells how during the swim he often breathed to the right and used the view of Table Mountain as inspiration.
“I realize how blessed I am to be healthy. At one stage I struggled in the cold water and my hands and feet hurt, which made it difficult to swim.
“But then I just thought of Mia-Miri and her family who are walking a difficult path with many challenges. They don’t give up and little Mia-Miri continues to fight every day. My mother always says ‘when the going gets tough, give everything to God; his creation and strength are enough’.”
Daantjie Rossouw in the icy waters. (Photo: Provided)
While Rossouw ventured into the sea, Mia-Miri’s own childlike perspective on the effort was a source of light entertainment for the family.
“When we told her about Mr. Daantjie, at first she just listened quietly,” says Amarynka.
“You could see she was trying to work it out in her head – the sea, the distance, the cold and especially the sharks. And then she asked us, in her soft, honest little voice: ‘But what about the sharks…?’
“She then said she would like to go on a boat with Uncle Daantjie, just to make sure he is safe and that nothing happens to him. We all just laughed for a moment, because that’s how she is, a little girl with a big heart who just wanted to make sure someone looked after him while he ventured out to sea.”
Mia-Miri’s journey also showed the family how compassionate people still are and they experienced this especially in the way strangers opened their hearts. The support keeps them going. Amarynka says they often cry, not only from sadness, but from overwhelming gratitude.
“Knowing that so many people, even strangers, pray with us is something that rips you open inside. There are nights when you lie awake, when fear speaks loudly and you no longer have the strength to form another prayer.
“Then somewhere, at that very moment, someone else bends their knees. Someone else says her name. Someone else picks her up as if she were their own.”
The support is also practical. The financial burden of cancer treatment is a reality that Amarynka does not hide. Medical funds do not always cover the essential care and the family has already had to pay thousands of rand out of their own pocket for chemotherapy and nutritional equipment.
“We had to put her on a higher level, not because we wanted to, but because we had to so that we would have to pay less expenses out of our own pocket. Every treatment means a trip to Rondebosch – fuel, maintenance on the car, it all adds up.”
A crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy has meanwhile been launched to help the family with the costs. Many people have already opened their hearts and wallets to little Mia-Miri, with more than R365 000 collected for her so far.
However, the biggest challenge still lies ahead.
(Photo: Little Lionheart Mia-Miri/Facebook)
Brave gift
Mia-Miri completed her radiation earlier this week and will soon be admitted for a bone marrow transplant. Her sister Merieke is the donor.
“If everything goes according to plan, the transplant will take place on Merieke’s birthday, April 21. On that day, her sister will not only give a gift, but offer the most precious gift of all – a chance at life, a new beginning and renewed hope for the future.”
Little Mia-Mirie and her older sister, America. (Photo: Little Lionheart Mia-Miri/Facebook)
Amarynka also has words of encouragement for any other parent who, due to a similar diagnosis, is also struggling with a heart that beats with fear.
“You’re not always going to be okay and that’s okay. You’re going to cry. You’re going to have days when you feel like you can’t take one more step. You’re still going to do it, not because you’re strong, but because you love. That love is going to carry you when nothing else can. You don’t break to give up, you break to make room for a new type of strength that you never knew you had.”
She also says that parents should not try to walk the road alone.
“Let people in. Let them carry you when you can’t anymore. God is there, not only in the great miracles, but in the quiet moment, in every breath you get again when you thought you couldn’t do it anymore.”
For Rossouw, the moment he set foot on the sand of Bloubergstrand was one of pure relief.
“Failure would not only have been for me, but also for Mia-Miri and her family and I didn’t want to disappoint them,” he says.
He thanks those who opened their wallets and reminds people that time, love and prayers are the most valuable gifts one can give.
While fundraising continues on BackaBuddy, the Wessels family is focusing on the next critical phase.
“I made a promise to myself… for as long as I hear the word ‘mommy’ I will get up. No matter how tired, hurt or scared I am. When she calls me, I will be there. Because that’s what love does.”
The Wessels family. (Photo: Little Lionheart Mia-Miri/Facebook)