Community united in mourning

Date: 06 November 2017 By: Andries van Zyl

The Louis Trichardt community was united in mourning this week, following the death of two of its young children.

On Wednesday, 25 October, the community woke up to the news of the death of 16-year-old Sanjit Pakkiree, a Form 3 student at Ridgeway College. A couple of hours later, the community was again rocked by the news of the death of one-year-old Muhammed Ismail.

For dad Mark and mother Roshini, the death of Sanjit, their only child, came as a huge shock. Although he had been struggling with his health the last couple of weeks, nobody expected him to die.

“Sanjit and some friends went to Johannesburg in June this year where he picked up some kind of stomach bug. It turned out to be a bladder infection, which turned into a kidney infection. After putting in some stents at the end of July, he was fine. While all this was going on, he lost a lot of weight,” said mom Roshini on Wednesday this week.

Sanjit, however, could just not recover completely. Before, he was a very healthy and active child. Roshini said that they had performed every type of test possible to find out what was wrong with Sanjit, but never managed to determine what was ailing him.

With his health deteriorating, Sanjit spent the last couple of weeks at home. Roshini and Mark were by his bedside almost day and night.

Last Wednesday, the unthinkable happened. “I went to check on him at about 06:00. He was sleeping, although his breathing was a bit heavy. Ten minutes later his father went to check on him and found that he had stopped breathing,” said Roshini.

Dad Mark immediately rushed his son to the Zoutpansberg Private Hospital. It was, however, too late. “By the time we got there, he had already passed away,” said Roshini.

25 October is also a date that another local family, Riaz and Rishma Ismail, will never forget as this is the day they lost their son Muhammed in a freak accident. Little Muhammed was accidently knocked down by a visitor's vehicle in Riaz’s drive-way. He died instantly.

“I don’t blame anyone, it was an accident. If he was knocked down by a speeding car in Bauhinia Street, that would have been different. I would be angry then as people use this road as a raceway,” said Riaz on Tuesday. As with Roshini and Mark, he and Rishma were also still trying to come to grips with the loss of their son. Amidst the pain they are, however, clinging to their faith and the knowledge that things will get better.

“As a parent, you have so many hopes and dreams for your children. But this is what God wanted. He was only lent to us for a short while … It teaches you to live for, and enjoy your children every day. There are no guarantees in life. The only guarantee is death,” said Riaz.

Both families remember their sons with fondness. “He was just a little angel,” said Riaz. Being much older, Sanjit was a bubbling and active young man, much liked by all. “He enjoyed life to the fullest. That is for sure,” said Roshini with a smile. “You know, as an only child, we spoiled him. The worst part for me is knowing we will not see him again. We just look to God for strength,” Roshini added.

Sanjit and Muhammed’s funerals took place the same day they passed away. Apart from dad Riaz and mom Rishma, young Mohammed is also survived by five-year-old sister Razaan. “We will always have questions. If the answers were always apparent, we would not grieve … What we’ve learned from this is just to live life! Take a chance!” said Roshini.

The Ismail and Pakkiree families expressed their sincere gratitude to the whole of the Soutpansberg community and further afield for their continued support. “Everybody was so involved. Within an hour of the accident, there were almost a hundred people at the hospital to comfort us,” said Riaz. Roshini and dad Mark are also grateful for the support they received and are still receiving. “Mr Bruce Wells and his friends from Ridgeway College are here almost every day to see if we are alright,” said Roshini.

For now, both Sanjit and Muhammed’s parents are facing life one day at a time. “You just don’t think too far ahead,” said Riaz.

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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