Assistance for Willie
- By: WILLIE HERMANN
- Short URL: https://archive.backabuddy.co.za/willie-hermann-5802666997759759088
- Date Created: 5 January 2024
Personal message
I inherited my disabled brother, Willie, now aged 49, 5 years ago when our mom passed away and made it my priority that Willie would continue to live his life to the fullest, and independently, for as long as he could manage and that his medical problems should be attended to step by step as I could financially manage. Uprooting him from the life he knew, having him give up his cats, his work and a few friends and acquaintances which became his world, was never an option.Willie was born prematurely with a crooked spine and visually impaired and remained in hospital for most of the first 2 years of his life before his lungs fully functioned and his asthma could be managed. Upon discharge, he was near-blind and required tri-focal glasses before he could even properly walk or talk, tasks he managed only at the age of 4. He attended Prinshof School for the visually impaired in Pretoria as a hostal learner since he was 5 until Standard 8, when our mom regrettably took him out of school after he failed to perform academically to standard and was offered further education at Prinshof which would teach him a technical trade. Since then he lived a very controlled and secluded life with my mom until she passed away.
My 5 year journey with Willie was filled with obstacles but also miracles and joy. I had to convince the world that he could and should manage on his own, manage his monthly needs to buy groceries and prepare meals he could heat at night after a long work day, guide him to independence emotionally, arrange lifts for him to and from work and church and eventually find him a place to stay closer to his work where he could walk to and from work with the aid of farm workers who help him to cross a rather busy intersection. He works as a packer at a chicken outlet outside Brits, six days a week, a work he has held for the last 15 years and is very proud of. This independent getting to work was a big milestone for Willie, as for the first time he could go somewhere without having to ask someone to take him.
After he left school, he suffered an incident of faecal impaction which lead to a hernia and damaged his bladder to such an extent that it is enlarged and needs to be catheterised daily.
Before our mom passed, he developed a leg ulcer, which we treated successfully between the two of us. As soon as the first wound was healed, he developed a leg ulcer on his other leg which we could not heal. His skin became allergic to most plasters and he has been getting specialised wound care twice a week since April 2022 with the end nowhere near as his body keeps rejecting treatment as soon as it grows accustomed to it. The wound care requires me to travel from Pretoria to Brits to fetch him for the treatment, take him for the treatment, return him home and then return back to Pretoria twice a week. Wound care without travel assistance is not an option, as no home wound care treatment is available.
On 3 January 2023 Willie was attacked by a huge swarm of bees and hospitalised for nearly a month. The huge amount of bee venom left him with a kidney injury which has since recovered. Since then however he also requires pull up nappies to prevent further leakage of his bladder.
So far, with the help of a friend and my siblings, I have only managed to feed the bill for Willie's wound care. He urgently requires a proper eye examination as he has had no examination or new glasses for more than 15 years. Hopefully with new technology, or new glasses, his sight may improve. The hernia is also getting bigger and needs to be attended to.
Any assistance with Willie’s continued medical expenses for continued wound care, future eye examination, new tri-focal glasses, a dental check-up and possibly an eye/bladder and hernia operation to better his health will be appreciated.
Statistics
Fundraising target
R 300 000.00Donations to date
R 0.00Assistance for Willie Campaign
