On one of our rounds we met Mr Van Rooyen where he was trying to get around by walking on his knees.He told us that he has no balance since the operation and therefore the use of crutches issued by the hospital was of no use to him.
He was homebound and had to rely on his family to drag him were he wanted to be or crept on his knees. Drakenstein Hospice could offer him a temporary wheelchair but only for 3 months as the waiting list for other patients was growing. It was soon apparent that he was never going to be able to afford a wheelchair and waiting for one along the correct channels would make it almost impossible.
Fortunate for him it came to our attention that a wheelchair donation came forward and it was a perfect opportunity to give him the freedom of movement.On the day that we were due to collect the rental wheelchair he was in tears, and said to our staff “ you can not take away my legs”.These soon turned in to tears of joy when he saw the wheelchair we presented to him.
Thanks to donors in the community, we were able to help people like Mr van Rooyen to live life a little easier.
Leave a Reply