Help Zoë hear: A mother's heartfelt appeal for life-changing surgery for her four-year-old
Zoe Olivari
Image: Supplied
All Tracy Olivari longs for is to hear her four-year-old daughter Zoë speak a full sentence — and for Zoë to finally hear her say the words: 'I love you. I'm proud of you.'
But those dreams remain heartbreakingly distant.
The Goodwood mother is making a public appeal for help to raise funds for a life-changing operation that could allow Zoë to hear for the first time. Born prematurely at just seven months, Zoë was given only hours to live. Doctors had to resuscitate her twice after birth, and she was immediately placed on life support, with severely underdeveloped lungs and around-the-clock medical care.
'The doctors told me she wouldn't make it,' Tracy recalled. 'But she proved them all wrong. She fought harder than anyone I've ever known.'
Zoe was born at 7 months
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Tracy, a single mother, spent those critical days at her daughter's side, holding her hand, whispering prayers, and speaking life into her fragile little body.
'Hours turned into days, and days into months,' she said. 'And just like that, my brave girl's fighting journey began.'
Now four years old, Zoë has an unbreakable spirit — but her fight isn't over. Because of complications from her premature birth, she has profound hearing loss. She cannot hear or speak, and her condition has delayed her development, cutting her off from the world around her.
'She's supposed to start school next year,' Tracy explained. 'But she can't attend a mainstream school, and the only special needs school nearby has a waiting list that just keeps growing.'
There is hope. Doctors say that with a specialised hearing operation, Zoë could regain enough hearing to start learning to speak — and possibly attend a mainstream school. But the surgery costs R32,000, and Tracy, who works alone to provide for her family, simply cannot afford it.
'I've been trying to save up every month, but as a single mom, it's just impossible to reach that amount,' she said. 'We've also been on the public hospital's waiting list for more than a year, but nothing has happened. This year is our only window. If we miss it, she may fall too far behind.'
Tracy is now appealing to the public for help.
Zoe and her mommy Tracy
Image: Supplied
'I'm not just asking for money,' she said, 'I'm asking for hope. I'm asking for the chance to give my daughter a future — one where she isn't always fighting, one where she can finally rest and enjoy life like any other child.
'I am also asking for prayers because I know, that prayer carries strength, look at how far it brought us.'
She dreams of the day she can hear her daughter's voice — and of the day Zoë can hear the voices that love her most.
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