“We were alone in the world”: they have created a life for themselves since the death of their mother, the day the little one was born

For Zina and her dad Amine, Father’s Day has particular importance; the young man has been taking care of his daughter alone, since the mother’s death, which occurred on the day of the little girl’s premature birth, in 2020.

“We were alone in the world. I prepared everything here. The room and everything. I told myself: if a mother can manage on her own, I can too. And I succeeded,” says Amine Ben Romdhane with emotion. “It’s a lot of patience. A lot of sacrifices.”

He had to learn everything, he who had never held a baby in his arms and who did not know how to cook. Diapers, baths, bottle feeding, everything was new. Seeing his daughter cling to him and climb on his shoulders, we see that he has learned well.

Trials

The harsh trials of life have united them. Throughout the interview, in their apartment in Sainte-Foy, Zina gives her father lots of hugs. “We are very close. We’re together all the time,” smiles Amine. “We play everything, even dolls!”

The young family’s dreams were shattered when Amine and his wife Chehla arrived in the country in September 2020. The Tunisian couple, each with a work permit, came to build a life in Quebec: he a computer scientist, she a psychologist.

But a few weeks after their arrival, Chehla was diagnosed with devastating brain cancer, and she was pregnant. So much so that she had to be placed in a coma. There was nothing more to be done for the mother and, in this “catastrophe”, Amine had a painful decision to make: did he want to keep his wife alive artificially, until the baby was viable?

“I made this decision. It wasn’t easy, really not. But luckily I took it. I don’t regret it. It’s a gift from heaven, a child. I was spoiled.”

“On the day of the 28^e week [de grossesse], we transferred to CHUL. We took the baby out, and unplugged the machines. It was the same day of his birth,” breathes the young father. “It’s a very painful story. It’s a tragedy. But we’re getting through it.”

Solidarity

The tiny baby stayed in the incubator for two months. Overwhelmed by the loss of his wife, the new father was at the Mother-Child Center every day, apart from a short stay in Tunisia to bury his wife.

A network of solidarity was woven around him; campaigns were launched to help him pay medical bills that totaled $200,000. He handed over each of the donations collected and did not receive a penny. Because “by a miracle”, we managed to resolve the bureaucratic impasse and the invoice was erased.

If Zina’s world revolves around her dad, she doesn’t forget her mom. “I explain everything to him. I want her to know that she has a mother like everyone else. Mother’s Day has just passed. She brings back a sheet from daycare for mom. I want her to live normally.”