A Groenvallei mother is raising money for the care of her three-year-old daughter who was born with cerebral palsy and scoliosis.
Kyra Streicher had a blood clot on her brain when she was born.
She suffered a stroke and her lungs also collapsed.
Then, just after her first birthday, she was diagnosed with scoliosis, which has left her spine curved irregularly in a C-shaped position.
Kyra’s mother, Andante Saayman, is raising money to buy a specialised wheelchair, known as a “Madiba chair”, for her daughter.
Kyra needs 24-hour care, and Andante has had to leave her job to provide it.
She sells 50ml bottles of perfume to raise money.
“Kyra has had these issues since birth, and it has been really hard but so far her father, Jurie, and I have been able to keep our heads above water,” says Andante.
“Fortunately, her father’s medical aid has been able to help but that is not going to last forever so we really need to raise some more funds to help us.”
The family need R30 000 to pay Kyra’s medical bills not covered by the medical aid, and the chair costs R19 000.
“The medical bills and wheelchair are of course big expenses and besides her main health concerns, the doctors are constantly discovering new issues that she has to deal with. One of those things is that she suffers from a bad reflux so one of the only things she can eat is special milk that is fed to her through a tube. One of the cans of milk costs R150 and that lasts two and a half days, so that’s an extra cost to consider.”
Kyra has spent much of her young life at hospital.
“Some months we spend a maximum of about three days at home and the rest at hospital, and in 2017, her lungs collapsed again while she was taking a nap and she had to be rushed to hospital,” says Andante.
“It was a miracle that she survived that and last Easter while she was on the oxygen tank in hospital for three weeks, her stats started dropping and the doctors came in and closed the curtains. It wasn’t looking good and we called in our priest, fearing the worst, but Kyra is a fighter and she pushed through.”
To help, call 072 502 3218 or visit the Kyra the Strongest Warrior Facebook page.