DJ fulfils local woman’s wish
She had just one wish - to look at the ocean again, and has longed for the beach ever since.
ALL she wanted was to look at the ocean: How a radio DJ made the wish of a local woman come true.
For most people, a trip to the beach is an individual task. They don’t worry about who will take or go with them, especially if they can just start the car and drive there themselves.
The beach is considered a place of relaxation where people get to enjoy the oceanic view, breeze and the exposure of the sun’s rays to the skin. Beautiful, peaceful and simple.
However, after an unsuccessful back operation, 85-year-old Martie van Staden’s fate changed forever. Confined to her bed for the past nine years, Van Staden has been unable to do her most favourite thing in the world – visit the beach, gaze at the sea and enjoy the fresh air.
Frail and in need of constant care, she had no choice but to move to the Flame Lily Park care home in Queensburgh.
She had just one wish – to look at the ocean again, and has longed for the beach ever since.
Determined to fulfil her mum’s wish, Van Staden’s daughter, Magda Snowdon, got in touch with East Coast Radio’s Damon Beard.
“It’s nothing fancy,” Snowdon told Beard on-air during The Big Favour on Tuesday, 12 May. “She just wants to go and look at the sea and go back again to the home.”
For nine years Van Staden longed to look at the waves and smell the fresh sea breeze – but frail and bedridden, she wasn’t even able to go outdoors.
Beard roped in Netcare 911 to help make van Staden’s dream come true. On the morning of 14 May, the Netcare 911 team fetched Van Staden from the care home and took her to ‘Toti Beach in an ambulance. There, she was served tea on the sand as she spent some time looking out at sea.
“This is something most of us take for granted every single day. I’m so grateful to have been able to make her life-changing dream come true,” said Beard.
Speaking to Queensburgh News, Snowdon said that her mother had a pleasant time at the beach and is grateful to East Coast Radio and Netcare 911.
“She wanted to stay there forever and ever,” said a chuckling Snowdon. “She used to live in Amanzimtoti and saw the sea whenever she wanted to.
“She is really grateful for the experience and tells everybody about it,” she added.
