tl;dr – Help my friend’s partner out by donating towards her medical expenses after she had a stroke aged 24, and then was hit by a brick during a taxi protest by donating here and sharing this post.
It’s not often that I ask my readers to consider helping out with a charitable cause.
There was that one, of course, where we were able to make such a massive difference to a young lad’s life.
We were even on CNN. Incredible to think that that was 13 years ago now.
Can we do something as big again?
I play football with a great bunch of guys. I’ve mentioned this before. One of those guys is Andile.
Here’s the story of his girlfriend Saffron, and how you might be able to help her out.
These are words from her physiotherapist, Jennifer.
Saffron is a lovely outgoing 27 year old young lady who suffered a massive stroke in October 2022 that left her with severe paralysis of her right side and unable to use her right arm or leg.
Through incredible hard work with her therapists, she regained the ability to walk again and even started going to the gym. In June 2023, after months of work, she started getting some movement back in her right shoulder and elbow and could even close her hand a little bit.
On July 26th 2023, Saffron suffered a setback when she had a significant seizure. This was due to the scar tissue in her brain causing a short circuit. She was immediately put on anti-seizure medication – which she has to be on for life.
On Saturday, August 5th, 2023, Saffron and Andile were driving past the IY township in Hout Bay, when the thugs that were participating in the taxi strike violence threw a brick at their car. It entered the passenger window and hit Saffron on her head – right over her new skull implant. It shattered the implant and caused a new bleed on her brain. Saffron had to have immediate emergency surgery and the broken plate had to be removed.
After her second surgery, Saffron continued with intensive therapy and was able to start walking within 6 weeks. This took a huge effort, as the second injury damaged her brain further and really impacted the movement in her right arm and leg.
In October 2024, blood tests showed ongoing cellular inflammation despite Saffron being otherwise healthy. Finally, she got a diagnosis – Takayasu’s arteritis. This is a rare, incurable autoimmune condition that causes inflammation in large blood vessels, clot formation and strokes. By starting large doses of steroids, she was able to slow damage, but will sadly have to be on medication forever. The treatment also has significant side effects and it has taken all Saffron’s courage and determination to continue her fight to recovery.
At the moment, Saffron is still requiring a combination of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Biokinetic Therapy, which adds up to about R25 000 a month. Medical aid has not been covering any of this for the past year, which has depleted all our previously raised funds. Saffron still needs all these therapies for at least another year, if not longer.
Her boyfriend, Andile, has never left her side, and is now adding to his health goals in support of her. As a cyclist, he is dedicating his ride in the coming Cape Town City Cycle Tour to raising funds for Saffron. I will also be doing the cycle race to bring awareness to patients who have had neurological injuries.
If you would like to support Saffron in her recovery, please consider donating a few rands for every kilometer of the race. It is 109km in length and follows the beautiful Cape Peninsula.
As her physiotherapist, I have been very honored to have worked with Saffron during the past 24 months. There is no-one more deserving of our support to assist her to overcome these setbacks.
Thank you for considering a contribution to help this gutsy young lady. All donations will be used strictly for medical costs.
Here’s the link you need.
https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/cycling-for-saffron
I can vouch for Andile, Saffron and backabuddy (the local equivalent of JustGiving or GoFundMe).
Every little helps: even just sharing this post or their website link on your social media.
Foreign currency goes a LONG WAY in South African Rands. Just saying.
So… please… go for it.
Help out financially if you’re able.
Share this post on your social media and maybe someone who sees it will also donate.
Thanks, all.
