Good Morning Angels: Helping a blind mother of three breathe easy again
It's a morning filled with emotion for one very deserving mother.
GOOD MORNING ANGELS 12 JULY 2017 (GERDA/NICKY/ROUND TABLE)
REQUEST FROM: Nicky Roos, life long blind friend
REQUEST FOR: Gerda Oosthuizen, blind mom of three partially sighted boys
ANGEL: Christo Bezuidenhout, Pretoria Round Table
SPONSORING: Our friends at the Round Table found the perfect portable oxygen machine, with a caddy, car charger, electric charger, as well as an air filter for Gerda. They joined Good Morning Angels to surprise Gerda at home with a brand new, life-changing device she so desperately needs.
BACKGROUND: This is the story of two life-long friends. Nicky and Gerda are both blind and went to school together. Nicky wrote to Good Morning Angels about her friend Gerda’s predicament.
Gerda is the mother of three partially sighted boys and her husband is the only breadwinner. They’ve not let their lack of sight hold them back and all three boys have achieved great things at school. Besides her lack of sight, Gerda has also battled lung disease and asthma for the past 20 years, which has affected her health, but not her will and drive to live a normal life. She’s not been able to work though, which has made finances a constant battle. Nicky is worried that Gerda’s deteriorating health has forced her to a life indoors. She has to be on constant oxygen and even making the short trip to her doctor has become a life-threatening gamble.
Gerda needs a portable oxygen device that will allow her to leave the house, attend her boys’ school activities, and just be able to be mobile again. She’s tried to scrape together R10,000 for a second hand machine, but after getting together a R3,000 deposit, she found that the machine was too old to service and use. A new portable oxygen machine costs over R40,000 - a financial bridge too far for even this positive, determined mom.
ORIGINAL REQUEST:
Dear Good Morning Angels
I really hope that you would be able to help a friend of mine! Gerda is a blind mother of 3 partially sighted boys. Due to her lung disease, she has great difficulty when leaving her home as you will see from her e-mail below.
She is in urgent need of a Portable oxygen concentrator which will greatly help her. Her husband is the only breadwinner as she cannot go out to work. They also have other medical bills piling up so getting the money together for this machine is virtually impossible for them.
Gerda has tried crowd funding, but unfortunately nothing has come of that. This is why I am pleading with you today to see if there is any way in which you would be able to assist.
Kind regards and thank you for all the good work that you are doing to help people in our communities.
Nicky Roos
Gerda’s plea:
Dear Friends
My name is Gerda. I have been struggling with asthma and lung disease for more than 20 years. It had a big impact on my family, both financially and emotionally. I am now in desperate need of a portable oxygen machine.
This machine will allow me to live a much more independent life. My medical aid does not cover portable machines, just stationary machines. The normal cost of the portable, is R42000, but I can get one, an “Airsep", second hand for R10000. It needs to be serviced. The machine has a battery life for six hours, which is wonderful when the electricity is off. I need to use oxygen at night and the stationary machines do not have battery backup.
The main reason that I need a portable, is for when I am sick and need to go to the doctor. When I go without oxygen, my levels go so low, by the time I get to the doctor, I am really sick and I have passed out in the past due to oxygen shortage.
My plea today is, if anyone can help to get the R 10000 together, it would help me tremendously. My husband is the only breadwinner and we have a pile of medical debt as well. This machine will be there for power outages, for me to be able to get to the doctor and give me more independence. On my bad days I am house bound. Sometimes, I am unable to attend school functions, because I cannot go out of the house. I am 46 years old and there are many limitations due to my lung problems.
To have more freedom and not have illness define me, would mean the world to me.
Thank you so much in advance. It is not easy for me to ask and I hope and pray there are people who hear my request and see the need for this machine.
Best wishes,
Gerda Oosthuizen