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Sharuko On Saturday

YOU probably by now have heard, or read, about the defiant Singaporean toddler, who simply refused to die.

A number of medical experts never gave her a chance because she was so tiny, at birth, they all concluded she would never make it.

And, it’s hard to blame them, for their pessimism, because all the odds were firmly stacked against her.

Baby Kwek Yu Xuang was delivered four months prematurely and she was so small she weighed just 212 grammes.

Now, in case you want a comparison, it’s the average weight of an apple.

The Tiniest Babies Registry, kept by the University of Iowa, says the previous record, for the smallest born baby, was a girl, born in the United States, in December 2018.

She weighed just 245 grammes at birth.

According to The Strait Times newspaper, when Baby Yu was first brought into the National University Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, Zhang Suhe, a nurse, could barely believe her eyes.

“I was shocked so I spoke to the professor (in the same department) and asked if he could believe it. In my 22 years of being a nurse, I haven’t seen such a small newborn baby,’’ Zhang told the newspaper.

Her skin was so fragile, and she was so thin, it was even difficult to put probes on her, just to monitor her condition.

If doctors left a probe for too long, it would leave a dent on her sensitive skin, resulting in a sore and an open wound, which would leave her prone to infection.

Baby Yu had to be placed on a ventilator, to help her breathe, because her lungs were not well developed and nurses had to insert tubes into her body.

They couldn’t even get diapers for her, because most of them were too big, and tended to cover her whole body.

After all, the size of her thigh was about that of a finger.

“There are some chemicals in the diaper to absorb the baby’s urine, and this can’t come into direct contact with Yu Xuan’s skin,’’ Zhang said. ‘’So we had to fold and seal the edges, these are the things we had to do for her, because caring for her skin is very, very important.”

In the first two weeks of her admission, into the intensive care unit, things were very gloomy. “Her daily care was the main crux of the matter, especially for the first two weeks of life,’’ Yvonne Ng, a senior consultant, told The Strait Times.

“We needed to innovate and find some improvised methods to deal with a baby this small because this is the first time we experienced somebody this tiny.

“She was so small that even the calculation, for the medication, had to be down to the decimal points.’’

But, Baby Yu fought back, as gallantly as anyone has ever done, for the right to live, in a way in which she could be the first real miracle of this millennium.

On Monday, after 13 months under intensive and specialist care, she was finally discharged.

She will still need a ventilator, at home, to help her breathe and she has chronic lung disease but specialist doctors believe she will beat all that, with the passage of time.

It cost about US$200 000, to keep Baby Yu in hospital, something which her parents paid off through crowdfunding, in which they eventually raised about US$300 000.

Baby Yu is the latest, in a line of the so-called “Miracle Babies,’’ who include Jackson Faulkner, a British boy who underwent surgery, just four days after his birth, to try and save his heart, which was about the size of a 20-cent coin.

Born with a rare one-in-a-million heart condition, Faulkner had to fight for his life, from day one but, last month, he celebrated his third birthday.

Seven years ago, Jaxon Buell was born with an extreme condition, called microhydranencephaly, which left him without about 80 percent of his brain.

There was very little expectation from the doctors he would survive his first year but he defied all that and was five, on April 1 last year, when he died, in North Carolina.

Eli Thompson was born without a nose, in May 2015, and lived to celebrate his second birthday, dying three months after turning two, in 2017.

Now, to the list of those Miracle Babies, the name Baby Yu has been added and, at a time the world has been battered by Covid-19, her extraordinary story has given the globe something to smile about.

Baby Yu was 6.3 kgs, by the time she was released from hospital.

SMALL IN STATURE BUT A VERY BIG FIGHTER

If there is any truth to what they say, that life begins at 40, this year marks 13 years since Joe Mugabe’s real life began.

Somehow, every year would have represented each of the months which Baby Yu spent in hospital, in Singapore.

In more ways than one, Baby Yu appears to share a lot with Joe, the diminutive football genius, we all called “Kode from Mabvuku.’’

One can point to their small stature, which belied an amazing fighting spirit, or the way they became specialists, in making a mockery of the odds.

On Sunday, Joe died, after losing his most important fight, a battle against cancer.

Like a true warrior, he had quietly confronted this demon, like a true fighter, he had taken on this deadly condition and, like a true captain, he fought until the very end.

He didn’t tell us about it, because he didn’t want us to feel sorry for him because, as he had shown us throughout his life, only the weak seek sympathy.

The brave guys, like him, fight their battles alone, because it’s the way he was born, it’s the way he grew up, it’s the way he made his name, on those football fields, fighting like a true warrior.

The game had long taught him battles can be won, and battles can be lost and, even though he always hoped to end up on the winning side, he knew nothing could be taken for granted.

He wasn’t a complex individual, he was just a simple guy from Mabvuku, who happened to be very good at football, the game which shaped his life, and will always define his legacy.

For Joe, playing for CAPS United wasn’t the only thing he did, it was everything he did.

It was what he appeared to have been born for and, for the better part of the ‘90s, Joe was CAPS United and CAPS United was Joe.

More than being a player for the Green Machine, he transformed himself into the soul of the club, the one who carried its burden, on his slender shoulders, never at any stage sending a signal of weakness, always sending a sign of greatness.

He was the one the fans expected to provide the leadership at this football franchise, in the ‘90s, the one who dragged his teammates into the toughest of battles, without showing any signs of fear.

The soul of their Green Machine, the beating heart of their Makepekepe, the lifeblood of their beloved CAPS United, the talisman of their Shaisa Mufaro.

And, for long periods, during that decade, as CAPS United were closing a chapter, yearning to transform themselves from Cup Kings, into a club good enough to become champions, Joe became the human symbol of their quest for transformation.

Maybe, it was a match-made-in-heaven.

After all, for the Green Machine fans, Joe was a familiar name, one which had a rhythm to it, one which meant much more than a player, one that stood for devotion, for leadership, for a legend.

One which stood for excellence which, in the ‘80s, during the wild nights and beautiful days when they transformed themselves into Cup Kings, was provided by another Joe.

His name was Joel Shambo.

The one who refused to be lured by the red carpet, which Black Rhinos rolled to his colleagues like Stix Mutizwa and Sinyo Ndunduma, when they came knocking on the Green Machine door, looking for the best talent, in their grand mission to become champions.

The one who remained faithful to the cause of Makepekepe, even if it meant he would not celebrate being a champion, throughout the ‘80s, because it meant more to him, serving the interests of his CAPS United family, than winning a league title.

They will never forget him, at the Green Machine, if not for his sheer brilliance, then it has to be for his unquestionable loyalty to their cause.

Neither will they ever forget this other diminutive Joe, the “Kode From Mabvuku,’’ who took them on a merry adventure into Dreamland, playing with both pride and passion, with style and authority, without fear.

One gets a feeling Joe barely gets the respect, which his immense contribution to the CAPS United cause deserves because, even when people talk about the ’96 championship-winning team, his name tends to be mentioned, as an afterthought.

The tendency is to mention the poster boys, those who came to join the club later and finally helped him drag his beloved Green Machine over the line, in that championship race.

But, never in my conversations with him, did he ever complain about that because, for Joe, it was never about him, but about the team. Such was his humility, such was his honesty, a true hero, whose impact, in the life and times of CAPS United, will be remembered for generations to come.

They will always love him, at the Green Machine, because he was truly one of them, the leader they looked up to provide the spark, when the team badly needed one, the genius to unlock the opposition, the quality to cripple the opposition. What a player, what a leader and what a man.

 

WAS KODE THE GREATEST CAPS STAR OF ALL-TIME?

Was he the greatest ever CAPS United player, of all-time? It’s always a very controversial subject, one which divides, rather than unites people. But, it’s a subject which the legendary Charles “CNN’’ Mabika, domestic football’s leading authority, brought to the fore during the latest edition of “Game Plan,’’ the weekly football magazine programme, on ZTV, every Wednesday night.

Mabika told viewers a lot of the Green Machine fans have been telling him, since Kode’s death, they believe the little magician was their greatest player of all-time.

To them, Kode is ranked better than the immortal Shambo, the legendary Shacky Tauro, the great Ndunduma and even the amazing Mutizwa.

For me, it’s not really important whether Kode was better than Jubilee, better than Mr Goals, better than Sinyo, better than Stix.

What is important is that, to be bracketed with these legends, to even be compared with someone like Stix is, in itself, a ringing endorsement of Kode’s greatness.

One can probably understand why he features ahead of both Stix and Sinyo, in the ranking of greatness, among some of the CAPS United fans.

That Stix and Sinyo ended up leaving the Green Machine is considered by some fans as a betrayal and will always cloud their judgment, when it comes to their greatness.

It’s hard for them to forget that, in one of the greatest Cup finals of all-time, the 1987 Chibuku Cup at Rufaro, Sinyo and Stix featured in the opponents’ camp.

And, CAPS United would probably have won had Sinyo not scored a wonder goal, in extra-time, to make it 3-3, with only six minutes left.

Shambo, of course, was on their side, and so was Mr Goals, who scored twice in that classic, with Friday “Breakdown’’ Phiri, grabbing the other goal.

It’s hard for them to forget that, in the replay, which again was played at Rufaro, it was Stix, who scored both goals, for Black Rhinos, in a game which the army side won 2-1, with Gift Mudangwe, getting the CAPS United goal.

So, in a way, you can understand if their decisions are still being influenced, by the hurt they felt, when Sinyo and Stix scored for the opponents, in that grand classic.

But, no one can argue Kode wasn’t good.

In fact, he wasn’t only good, he was very good, and he served his beloved Green Machine well, during a playing career in which his football, now and again, touched the heavens.

Somehow, fate had to ensure Joe had to die, on the 25th anniversary, of his team’s Finest Hour, in 1996, when CAPS United finally won the league championship, for the first time, since Independence.

Just like his coach, Steve “The Dude’’ Kwashi, who succumbed to Covid-19, last month.

But, to reduce everything which Kode did, serving CAPS United, to just winning the league championship, will be an insult to his great service to the Green Machine.

Sometimes, in football, it’s not about trophies, it’s far much more than that.

He wasn’t a giant but what he didn’t have, in terms of physical build, he had it in abundance, bottled inside that diminutive frame and, just like baby Yu, he kept defying the odds.

We will always generate a lot of pride from what Joe did for his Green Machine, in particular, and domestic football, in general.

Covering him, during his lengthy service for his beloved Makepekepe, was a privilege for me, and he will remain one of those rare players, who make a lasting impression on you.

To God Be The Glory!

Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys in the struggle.

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooo!

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You can also interact with me on Twitter (@Chakariboy), Facebook, Instagram (sharukor) and Skype (sharuko58) and GamePlan, the authoritative football magazine show on ZTV, where I interact with the legendary Charles Mabika, is back every Wednesday night at 9.30pm