28/08/2022
Elmaryn is a 51 year old woman, with 2 children; Altus & Anine.
In 2015 an awful medical accident happened with our beautiful Ella and since then she has had brain damage. To read Ella's full story, please feel free to visit her page: Ella's Fundraising. (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=104777267943192&id=104745967946322)
People with brain damage needs a lot of stimulation. Especially Ella; she loves it to have visitors or someone chatting with her. Elmaryn's mother used to visit her everyday, to chat with her or treat her with some nice food.
In October 2021 her mother sadly passed away. Since then Ella has been alone in Mosselbay. It is clear how much Ella misses the daily visits.
Ella needs 24h medical care, therefor a frailcare is the perfect place to be. The family wishes to move Ella closer to her family in Paarl. Unfortunately frailcares in this area is more expensive than the one she's currently in. The family feels that it is very important for Ella to be moved, so that she can receive regular visitation again and extra, needed stimulation.
At the moment the family is not financially strong enough to afford the frailcare in Paarl and therefor we will appreciate any donations or sharing of the post.
The funds will be utilised for Ella's housing and necessities like diapers, etc.
Please follow this link if you want to donate something: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/elmaryn-dippenaar
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Elmaryn (or Ella as her friends call her) is a 49 year old women. She is a mother of two children and has been divorced since 2004. She worked as a social worker for over 30 years, giving back to the community, helping children getting out of abusive households and helping people in poor communities.
Ella's story:
In 2015 she had a minor heart attack and drove herself to the hospital, she was booked in for surgery, to put a stent in a narrowed artery; a very simple procedure.
Her whole family was very positive and we all thought that we dodged a bullet, because she only needed this small operation, followed by a healthier lifestyle afterwards to obtain a normal life. Unfortunately, it did not turn out the way we hoped.
A day after the surgery, one of the stitches, from the inserted stent, came loose and she started bleeding internally. By the time the doctors realized this, it was already to late. The doctors rushed her into an emergency operation, but she already lost more than half of the blood in her body, causing severe brain damage, due to a lack of oxygen rich blood delivered to the brain. Her brain also shrank to a certain extent.
The end of this small operation resulted in Ella only waking up a few weeks after the emergency operation had been done. When she woke up, there was no sign that she had any recollection of what was happening around her. She could not speak, walk, drink or eat on her own and for the first few weeks there were literally machines keeping her alive.
As from 2015 until now, she has fought through an additional kidney failure and she attained bed sores, some of which only recovered recently. She also had to be moved between several caring institutions, due to some institutions not taking care of her required needs. She still needs 24h medical care to this day.
It's not all bad news though; in these 5 years we've seen so much recovery. She has gone from random screams and dozing off in the distance, to making eye contact when you speak to her and even saying small sentences back to you. She recognizes people she knows, she's able to chew her own food and drink water out of a straw with someone holding the cup.
Caring for someone in Ella's state, as you can imagine, is very expensive. We have to cover her 24h medical care, nappies, toiletries, medication, etc.
The lockdown has affected most of us in these past few months financially and unfortunately for Ella as well. People who have previously supported Ella in buying nappies, toiletries and other necessary stuff, not covered by her monthly pay outs from her work, had to close businesses or lost their job and are no longer able to support her. At the moment we don't have enough money to cover all of Ella's basic needs.
If you have read this post and you feel like you want to help out this women, who has done nothing but give back to the communities in need of South Africa throughout her 30+ years of being a social worker, it would be greatly appreciated by her family. Any donation, even a R10, could help us get through the month.
She has two children, the youngest one (19) studying to become a teacher and the eldest (22) working on a Game Farm in the Eastern Cape. They are both working very hard towards a future where they can take care of their mother’s financial needs and make her life as comfortable as possible. At this moment in time, they are both unable to do so as they both still have study loans to pay off.
All donations can be made into one of the following accounts:
DUVENAGE KEYSER & JONCK ING
Bank: ABSA
Branch code: 632005
Acc type: Cheque
Acc number: 1120141224
please make the reference DIP 9/0001
OR
DUVENAGE KEYSER & JONCK ING
Bank: NEDBANK
Branch code: 198765
Acc type: Cheque
Acc number: 1626007411
please make the reference DIP 9/0001
We would also like to thank every single person who has donated money so far. Even if you have brought a chocolate to Ella's room or just came to visit her. We really appreciate it and on behalf of Ella, we say thank you.
Thank you very much for reading. Stay safe and goodluck to all of you going through a tough time due to the covid-19 pandemic.
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