Transcript by Yumna Moosa

Many children with terminal illnesses often die in pain and alone. However, one KZN couple has established a palliative home for these children to be showered with love and care until their final moments. Co-founder of the Butterfly Palliative Home, Tarryn Bell, speaks to Radio Islam about how the facility had been founded and why they continue to run it.

Tarryn says their story started 12 years ago when the couple had been relocated to Zululand for her husbands community service. She then goes on to state, “we fell in love with a baby girl at a local orphanage who had Down Syndrome and heart failure. We wanted to adopt this baby, but within six months she had passed away in our arms”.

Years later the couple moved to the community of Ingwavuma where they adopted their son (with Down Syndrome). Tarryn then says around five years ago, they were offered another child from social workers who found a baby with Edward Syndrome, outside the Orlando Soccer Stadium in Soweto. The baby was terminally ill, and after initially rejecting the offer to foster the child, the couple eventually accepted the offer. This marked the start of their journey.

The home currently has a team of 25 staff members and operates solely on donations.

Listen to the full story on the Radio Islam International SoundCloud