Brave Madi loses fight

Madi van Broekhuizen's friends remember her as 'amazing'. Photo / Janna Dixon

A six-year-old girl born with a rare lung disease died last week as her mother tried frantically to revive her at their Auckland home.

Only minutes before, Madison van Broekhuizen, had talked to her father Henk on the phone. "She said when I got back that night she was keeping a surprise for me."

But the surprise was to be a tragic one. Madison - or Madi to family and friends - was born 14 weeks premature. Her right lung was partly collapsed and pinched and she had problems with mucus plugging.

But her parents, Henk and Kim, said Madi didn't let it get in the way of loving life. "She loved to sing, she wanted to be a singer when she grew up," said Kim. "She was very active, she loved to run."

Last Sunday Madi, who had been practising her spelling, had conquered the tricky word "jar".

Kim put her to bed after Madi had spoken to her dad. "As soon as she went to bed she went to sleep, then she sat up," Kim said. "It was very sudden."

Kim used a nebuliser on Madi, a machine that pumps a fine mist into the lungs. "I realised she wasn't getting any better and I called an ambulance. They worked for half an hour on her, they never gave up." But despite their efforts, Madi couldn't be revived. "She was incredibly brave, and so happy and so full of life," Kim said.

"She had a tenacity and a strength and such a will to live," Henk said. "I feel like a zombie really, I've lost my best mate."

A crowd of 160 people farewelled Madi at her funeral on Friday. Henk played Madi one of her favourite songs, Fix You by Coldplay. "She knew every word. I said to her that's my song for you, I want to fix you."

In a shrine to Madi in the family home was a yellow flower made by her classmates from Massey Primary. On every petal they had written words they use to remember their friend, including "amazing", "excellent" and "magic".

Henk and Kim will remember Madi's favourite things - her Barbie dolls, the love of Dr Who and Spongebob Squarepants and her dog Twinkles.