Down the passage behind a closed door Jenna, our beautiful 20-year-old daughter, waits. Normally she never stirs much before lunchtime, but on this day something is different. She intuitively knows. She sits up slowly in her bed in the dark, bedroom blinds still drawn, and waits.
“We will make a plan. We will get there, Angela, we will get there. How long do we have?” Heart pounding, Stuart turns to Brandon, his business partner, and Queen, who is waiting expectantly. “Brandon, Queen … this is it. We have a green light for Operation O2, and Gabs isn’t here. I need your help.”
He picks up a stapled document sitting at the top of his in-tray. It is three pages long and marked boldly “Operation O2”. Five days earlier, the day I left for Keurboomstrand with Kristi, I had printed out a fresh copy and Stuart and I had gone through it carefully together. When the call you have been waiting for so many months for finally comes, your mind can temporarily leave. He is grateful for our military preparedness and follows the instructions word for word. We have plotted it carefully and fastidiously:
“Operation O2”
| To do | Action | Status | |
| 1 | New Discovery authorisation numbers | Gabi | Done |
| 2 | Copy of all IDs plus Lizzie’s for Sue J | Gabi | Done |
| 3 | Create phone tree for Mary B and Sue J | Gabi | Done |
| 4 | Dry run to ExecuJet Cape Town | Stu/Steve | Done |
| 5 | Pack medication bag and spare meds | Gabs/Lizzie | Done |
| 6 | Pack a hospital bag: PJs, toiletries etc. | Gabs | Done |
| 7 | Buy emergency car lights | Stu |
| When the call comes | ||
| 1 | Call nurse Lizzie Brierley (Liz calls Queen) | Gabi |
| 2 | Where is Kristi? Find her, get her home | Stuart |
| 3 | Call Mary and Sue: airport lift to come to us | Gabi |
| 4 | Phone pilots: • Larry Beamish • Gunther Grobers • Garreth Gill • Ryan Dassonville • Ampie Steynberg • Jonathan Ackerman | Stuart |
| 5 | Discovery to activate authorisation numbers | Gabi |
| 6 | Call Raffaella Ruttell at Discovery Health | Gabi |
| 7 | Call Alison Paynter at Discovery | Gabi |
| 8 | Lanseria Helicopter: Disco 911 0860 999 911 | Stu |
| 9 | Lanseria ground crew: Carlene Morrison | Stu |
| 10 | Call Prof. Wilcox | Stu |
| 11 | Call house-sitter for Bertha Ave to look after house and dogs | Stu |
| 12 | Pack Chase and battery for Chase | Stu |
| 13 | Pack Oxy-Jen and all portable oxygen, plus additional cylinders for plane | Gabi |
| 14 | Pack all bags and oral drugs (complete green bag 80% packed in drug den) | Gabi |
| 15 | Pack pesonal belongings, pyjamas, toiletries, clothes | Gabi/Stu/Kristi |
| 16 | Complete Jen packaging (80% done in bag in room) | Jen/Lizzie/Queen |
| 17 | Call Sarah at Parkwood re accomm for first night | Mary/Sue |
| 18 | Call Sandy Harper if Parkwood full | Mary/Sue |
| 19 | Lift from Lanseria to Milpark – Richard Seegers? | Mary/Sue |
| 20 | No other calls to anyone until we are at Cape Town airport | All |
| 21 | Phone Granny, Grampa, Shirley and Ali | Gabs/Stu |
| 22 | Calls to other key family and friends and WhyFive (Brandon) | Mary/Sue |
| 23 | Call Abbotts and Stables re: Kristi | Gabi |
| 24 | GET TO AIRPORT AND FLY TO JHB | Jenna/Stu/Gabi/Kristi/Lizzie |
Stuart takes a deep breath and musters all the calm he can. The first call is of course to me and Kristi, then the very next to Nurse Lizzie and the third to my rock and neighbour, Mary Berry. After making the first few calls, he pads softly into Jenna’s room to wake her and share the news. I don’t think there can be a more significant moment for a parent. He is very surprised to see Jen sitting up in her bed in the dark, waiting, her soft brown eyes watching the door expectantly.
“Jen,