Page 32 - Waterfall City Issue 9 September 2024

Waterfall City Health

Pono-Entle’s
HEARTWARMING

HOMECOMING

Netcare Waterfall City Hospital’s first baby revisits his birthplace

T hirteen years after his

arrival as Netcare Waterfall
City Hospital’s first baby
born on the premises,
Pono-Entle Maluleke recently
visited the place of his birth.

Born just before 09:00 on 7 July 2011,
weighing a healthy 2.84 kilograms,
Pono’s birth marked a significant
milestone for doctors and staff at
Netcare Waterfall City Hospital, which
had just opened its doors.

Pono’s return to his birthplace was a
memorable moment not only for him
and his mother, Desiree Maluleke,
but also for hospital management,
staff and doctors who attended his
birth – many of whom are still at the
healthcare facility.
Dr Omolemo Kitchin, paediatric pulmonologist, Dr Michael Thubisi, gynaecologist and obstetrician,
Pono-Entle Maluleke and Desiree Maluleke
For Desiree, the visit felt like a journey
back in time. She vividly recalls means ‘Beautiful vision from God’, about Pono-Entle’s birth, only to be
holding Pono-Entle, whose name for the first time in the hospital’s met with a delightful surprise.
brand-new maternity ward. At the
time, the hospital was one of the “Not only did the hospital provide
few buildings in the area and by far me with a copy of the story and some
the tallest. Nowadays, the area has photographs, but they invited us to
developed into a busy metropolis join them for a small celebration.
and the hospital has been expanded The atmosphere at Netcare Waterfall
and enhanced, becoming a premier City Hospital was one of pure
healthcare facility and an important joy when we arrived, as the staff,
part of the fast-growing community of some of whom had been present
Waterfall City. at Pono-Entle’s birth, gathered to
welcome ‘their firstborn’ back home.
To mark her son’s 13 birthday A special tea party was arranged,
th
celebration, Desiree recently and Pono received a gift hamper of
A proud Desiree Maluleke with her newborn son
Pono-Entle on the day of his birth at Netcare contacted Netcare to obtain a copy healthy snacks, which filled him with
Waterfall City Hospital of the media story that was written excitement,” added Desiree.

30 Waterfall City Issue 9 2024