Massive donation for Chloe’s dream
Over R10 000 fundraised by Glenvista swimmers for young girl with dream to ride dressage in Paralympics.
OCTOBER 9, was the day that Chloe Palmer was surprised with no less than R11 300 funds raised by members of the Glenvista Fitness Centre at a six hour relay marathon called ‘Swimming for Chloe.’
At least R3 000 more was expected in donations prior to the hand over and the good Samaritans of the south did not disappoint. Joyride Family Fun Park also made a donation to the cause of riding gear.
“We have already doubled our expectations, with R9 000 already in an account in Absa Johannesburg, plus R2 300 paid directly to Chloe,” revealed Norma who is one of the organizers.
Donations were made by people who joining in the swimming race or sponsored a swimmer. Participants were also allowed to use water wings, arm bands and rubber ducks.
An impressive total number of 507 lengths were achieved by the enthusiastic participants, and irrespective of health challenges Phillicia Bester, who is a former distance swimmer accomplished 100 lengths in spite of having a hip and knee replacement. In fact everyone taking part exceeded their own estimates.
“Three swimmers did over one hundred lengths the best being Swimming Instructor Jean Grieves with 150 and her daughter Nicola who swam 110 lengths,” said Norma.
Reportedly, participants exceeded their own length estimates, with many achieving double what they had expected to achieve. There was a notable swimmer who stayed in the water for the entire six hour relay, and sometimes as many as four other swimmers joined in.
The beneficiary, Chloe Palmer suffers from a rare but deadly condition called ataxia, a term used to describe a group of neurological conditions that gradually attack the brain and has different causes and symptoms. At first, ataxia causes problems with balance, coordination as well as the sufferer’s speech. This disease can begin at any age.
It is said that the younger you are the more progressive the disease is likely to be. Sadly, the loss of balance is only the tip of the iceberg with the most common ataxia prompting heart disease, diabetes and other debilitating conditions.
