South Africa's Gauteng province, where Johannesburg is located, requires no permit to own wild and exotic animals. The person who had been keeping Sheba did not speak to media and the origin of the animal was unknown. “If it wasn’t for the help of the Child Development team I think I would have felt alone in the community and completely overwhelmed at how to get Tiger past these hurdles,” Ms Taylor added.Police had spent days trying to locate the tiger until she was spotted in the early hours of Wednesday entering a dwelling.Īnimal rights activist Dr Louise de Waal said it was a sad end for "this poor animal who has never asked to be a pet in somebody's backyard". It has been the major beneficiary of Mix FM’s Give Me 5 For Kids campaign and has helped thousands of young patients with development delays. Wishlist directed $1.4 million towards the refurbishment and relocation of the Child Development Service in Maroochydore. “There are lots of hugs and kisses, and the children are always so loving and supportive of each other.” He loves playing with cars, his iPad, gymnastics and jumping with his sisters on the trampoline. “Other than going for regular check-ups, he does everything the other kids can do. “He’ll learn to cope with his breathing and he is learning to communicate in sign language. “Tiger’s speech has been affected with the tube, but hopefully it will come out this year,” Ms Harris said. Tiger’s grandmother Jenny Harris, who now lives with Kezzia, said doctors have attempted to remove Tiger’s tracheostomy tube five times, but with no success. “They welcomed him with open arms and since I’ve been sick the past couple of years, they have been really supportive and keep a close eye on Tiger’s big sister Harmony (seven).” “All the hard work I put into him has paid off and St Thomas More Primary School have been fantastic accepting Tiger. “Tiger going to school this year has made me really proud,” she writes. Ms Taylor, who has no cognitive impairment, now communicates with visitors through her iPad and enlists in the help of around-the-clock carers to assist her and her children. “This condition was diagnosed by two neurologists who are both of the opinion that the nervous breakdown was caused by acute stress.” “Her speech has now steadily declined to the point where she cannot be understood so she must communicate via text message, even when speaking face-to-face with someone. Kez returned home in a wheelchair and a healthy newborn baby in her arms, but she has been unable to walk properly since then and has been unable to carry her baby. “Her labour was induced and she had to endure surgery shortly after to insert plates. “At 38 weeks pregnant Kez fell over and broke her ankle in three places,” friend Nicola O’Leary says. In 2015 Ms Taylor fell pregnant with her third child, Indie, and due to the worry of another complicated birth and overwhelming stress of Tiger’s care, Ms Taylor suffered a nervous breakdown which first resulted in slow speech. Ms Taylor’s family admit the emotionally-charged years and constant care of Tiger took a substantial toll on the mother-of-three. “This is how we met the incredible team at the Child Development Service, who helped us overcome Tiger’s developmental hurdles.” “From birth, Tiger didn’t eat orally until therapy started at eight months old and it took the good part of a year to master eating and drinking. Tiger had to learn to eat because the natural instinct to eat is lost after three months. “And we had a lot of developmental work ahead of us. “We spent five months in the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital Brisbane where Tiger was fitted with a tracheostomy tube to enable him to breath,” Ms Taylor recalls. Just hours after his birth, doctors found air was travelling down his food pipe into his stomach which was starting to bloat. Tiger was born with oesophageal atresia (long gap) with tracheo-oesophageal fistula - a rare condition meaning his food pipe was not connected to his stomach but instead had connected to his wind pipe. It’s no wonder because the cheeky five-year-old’s survival has been nothing short of a miracle. Kezzia Taylor’s eyes light up at the mention of her cherished son Tiger.
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