Meet Taliah

A frantic call from his daughter’s Godmother made, father of five-year-old Taliah, Lucan’s life stand still. For a moment everything stopped.

Taliah, from Manenberg, had been visiting her Godmother for the day. While playing with the Godmother’s son, she accidentally bumped into a bucket of boiled water, sustaining 20% burn wounds.

Recounting the incident, Lucan tells how he and Taliah’s mother were at church when they got a call from the Godmother.

“Taliah’s been burnt. That is all I could recall hearing before my mind switched to thinking about how I would tell her mother, who was seated next to me worshipping – not aware of the news I had just gotten,” he says.

Taliah was rushed to the local day hospital, where she was then transferred to Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital for care. Red Cross Hospital is the only hospital in the Western Cape with a specialised paediatric burns unit. It would be the best place for Taliah.

“Taliah is normally a very talkative, lively, and active child. But that day, my child was beyond herself in pain. She was crying and very agitated. I was scared for her,” Lucan says.

As a father, Lucan remembers feeling very helpless.

Unable to take the pain away from his little girl, while also having to comfort and reassure her mother, Lucan found himself in a challenging position. He says his daughter could not walk on her own, due to her injuries.

“It was hard for us to see Taliah like that, but the nurses and doctors here at the hospital made it a little easier to endure. They comforted us and have been caring for our little angel very well,” he says. As his family looked to him for strength, Lucan had the support of a world class medical team who know exactly what little patients and their families need in times of trauma. As long as children can see that their family is okay, they know that they’re going to be okay.

Taliah is spending her second week at the burns ward. Lying on a couch next to her dad, with a phone in her hand, she keeps popping her head to the side – stealing a peek at her father as he talks.

Her left leg, parts of her stomach and arm are wrapped in bandages. But Taliah knows that she’s going to be okay.

“She is doing much better now; she is back to talking,” her dad smiles. He says the house has been quiet without the talkative, bubbly little girl. There is hope that she will be going home soon.

Once she is discharged, Talia will have to attend follow-up appointments at the hospital.

With remarkable dignity, Lucan won’t allow himself to feel despondent. The family is dependent on public transport to travel to and from the hospital. He and Taliah’s mother take turns visiting their little one at the hospital, as they can’t afford to travel together most of the time.

“We are trying our best to finance our fares to the hospital, and we will have to try even harder to ensure she attends all her follow-up visits when she is discharged.

The Red Cross Children’s Hospital is the only health facility where burn patients like Taliah can get the healing and care they desperately need. Over 320 little patients are treated at the hospital’s burns clinic, and one of the biggest challenges that come with these visits is the cost of transportation.

The Family Care Project is aimed at helping families with high public transport travel costs; making the healing journey for the little ones and families that much easier.

Care for the families of our little ones by donating to the Family Care Project. 100 % of your donations will provide families with emergency care relief resources.