KOSTER, North West – On any given afternoon, you'll find two-year-old Jana Steyn among the chickens in their coops or visiting the baby goat and other animals on her parents’ farm near Koster in the North West. This energetic toddler tears around the farm, plays with her four-year-old brother, and chases the dogs – a picture of childhood joy.
It’s hard to believe this is the same little girl who was run over by a bakkie on the farm just months ago. But she is – and now, with operations and hospital visits behind them, Jana and her parents are finally enjoying life again.
“Things are going very well for us,” says her mother, Kelly. “And things are going very well with Jana. We have no complaints.”
In August last year, Jana unexpectedly ran towards the bakkie in which her father, Shaun, and her brother, Joshua, were sitting. Shaun didn’t see her behind the vehicle, and she ended up underneath it. Her injuries were serious, but you’d never guess that was the case watching her on the farm today.
The family recently reached a major milestone when Jana underwent her final surgery in which doctors placed a titanium structure in her head to repair her skull. Due to her injuries, part of her brain was exposed in the months following the accident. “She previously had to wear a head guard to protect it,” Kelly explains. “But she no longer needs to wear it.”
The follow-up examination brought more good news. “Everything is 100%. The doctor is very satisfied. Jana is recovering very well – she is done with operations and hospital visits for the next 20 years, or hopefully forever.”
The anaesthesiologist at the appointment was visibly moved by how far Jana had come. “He looked at her with tears in his eyes and said he couldn’t believe it,” Kelly recalls. “She is one of his miracle babies. We remain grateful and we know that our child is a miracle.”
Jana suffered no brain damage and, to her parents’ relief, there is nothing wrong with her right eye, which had been a serious concern.
None of this means the journey was easy. “Being far from home, away from our little boy, sitting next to the hospital bed for six weeks while our little girl lay there facing so many uncertainties every single day – it was hard,” Kelly says. “But we took each day as it came and just tried to stay positive. We had a good support system, and we had very good doctors.”
After the accident, the family made a deliberate effort to process what they’d been through. They saw a counsellor, talked openly and gave themselves permission to feel it all. “We didn’t suppress our feelings. We cried when we wanted to cry. It’s still not a pleasant experience for us.”
Certain smells, colors, and sounds still trigger them, but Kelly says they don’t allow those moments to take hold or disrupt their daily lives.
Shaun carried a heavy burden of guilt, especially in the early days, though Kelly says he is in a much better place now. “He is positive and grateful. I think if he hadn’t known the God we worship, it would have been very hard for him. But he knows everything happens for a reason, and our child is alive – and that is the most important thing to him."
“If something is bothering us, we talk to each other. We have each other, and we can speak openly.”
Meanwhile, Jana carries on as if none of it ever happened.
“She’s her old self entirely. We’re not overprotective at all, though that was quite a dilemma for us: do we wrap her in bubble wrap or do we let her be a child? We simply ask the Lord each day to guide her, protect her and keep her steady on her feet.”
The one thing they are careful about is making sure her head wound and stitches don’t get knocked. “But other than that, she’s just a child.”
She enjoys frolicking with the farm animals. Jana started play therapy this week and will return to school next month, once her wound has healed.
“When we drop her brother off at school, she gets so excited,” Kelly says, smiling. “She just can’t wait."
