Durban - The mother of a 2-year-old Bergville toddler who went missing last week had lost hope of finding her alive as the search dragged into a second day.
But due to the efforts of the SAPS Search and Rescue Unit, the little
girl was reunited with her mother on Friday.
She was discharged from hospital on Monday and is doing well at home in Emmaus.
Recalling the events leading to her disappearance, her mother yesterday said the toddler had been playing
on a small dirt road with her brother, 3, and a cousin when she disappeared.
The mother said she had been visiting her aunt who lives close by and had been able to see where their children were playing.
“When I saw horses approaching I called to the children to come inside,” she said.
But while her son returned home, her youngest could not be found.
“I went to our home, thinking that maybe she could have headed there but she didn’t. I went back to my aunt’s and we got neighbours out looking but when we still couldn’t find her by 9pm, I phoned the police who told me to come to the station in the morning.”
She described the first night of her daughter’s disappearance as unbearable.
“I even went and stood outside our house at around 3 in the morning thinking maybe I would see her coming home or even hear her crying out there. It was scary because we live in a bushy area.”
Officers from the Pietermaritzburg, Okhahlamba and Ladysmith K9 Search and Rescue Units were called out to search on Thursday but could not find the girl.
The mother said that on Friday morning when the search and rescue team returned, neighbours were already out looking and it was during this hunt that
one of the children in the search party phoned them saying he could hear crying where he was up the mountain.
“The police told him to stay where he was and not get closer - and that is where she was found. I was extremely happy to see the policeman come down that mountain with my child in his arms.”
She said her daughter had minor scratches from being in the bush but otherwise seemed fine.
Warrant Officer Jacques Meyer with the Ladysmith K9 Unit who was heading the hunt, said Search and Rescue K9 units began combing the area on Thursday.
Meyer described the rescue as a miracle, especially since it was a toddler who had survived two nights outside in extremely cold weather.
“In our line of work, when it’s children this little involved, we always think that the chances of finding the child alive are slim. It was a miracle that she was found - this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the entire team.”
He said even the community had been searching and a local farmer on Friday had volunteered to fly over the area where the child was last seen in his light aircraft.
“I asked myself how this child got up that mountain which is 2km to 3km from the area she was last seen.”
Meyer, who has a 10-year-old son, said in his line of work, especially for those members who were parents, the search for missing children always became personal.
“I’ve been with search and rescue for 13 years now and when we search for a child, we do it like we are looking for a child who is ours because we also have children.
“That Thursday night, after leaving the scene, it was very cold and when I got home as I kissed my son I just thought of that little girl out there, thinking what I would do if this was my child missing. I prayed that we would find her.”
He said this rescue would go down in his books as one of his best.
“It was a capable team working on this rescue, in partnership with the fire department. We stayed positive through it all. When I came down the mountain with the child, I could see the happiness on the mother’s face.”