Help Queensburgh family treat baby’s heart disease
According to the family, about R20 000 alone will be needed for a power back up system to ensure Liam's equipment runs through power outages.
A QUEENSBURGH couple battling to cope with the enormous medical costs of their sick son, are grateful to friends and strangers who have gone out of their way to assist.
Kloof father, Paul Elliott, came across a post on Facebook about a couple with a baby living with a Congenital Heart Disease and his generous nature kicked in when he started raising funds for the baby.
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“I immediately liked the page and started following the story and made a small donation on their Go Fund Me page. I noticed the story was not getting too much exposure and small amounts of funding were being raised for baby Liam,” said Elliott.
“I then approached David Hall and we both decided to take it one step further and offered to raffle a 47cm Compact Weber Braai and a few sponsored extras at R50 per ticket, open to anyone in South Africa, postage included in the prize.
“I was then approached by an old school friend in Australia who works for Nespresso and he offered to extend the competition to Australian residents and sponsor a Nespresso coffee machine worth R3 000, as well as a month’s supply of coffee,” he added.
The couple, Candice Wyngaard and Leon Rootman live in Escombe, Queensburgh and have been together for almost three years and in this short time they have lost a daughter to a heart-related disease, Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary atresia, and are now raising a six-month-old son with a similar condition in hospital.
“We decided we would like another child and the doctors said our chances were very slim that we would have another child with this condition as Mila Joy was negative for Digeorge Syndrome and Down’s syndrome, the two conditions associated with this heart defect at times,” said Candice.
“We got pregnant fairly quickly and found out from the foetal specialist that he had a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot with Absent Pulmonary Valve and unfortunately this condition affects the airway and lungs in a very severe way,” said Candice.
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The family, who met Elliott for the first time at the interview with the Highway Mail, clearly had the same mission: to make the transition from hospital to home smooth for Liam.
According to Leon, about R20 000 will be needed for a power back up system to ensure Liam’s equipment runs through power outages.
“His medical costs are something we cannot predict. His medical aid covers most things, but at the moment we do have some outstanding lab bills which we are working on. He will also need many forms of therapy such as speech therapy which is not even covered while he is in hospital. He needs this to learn to feed as well as occupational therapy and physical therapy.
“None of these are covered by our medical aid in full and the savings we have on our plan we pay for anyway and will be used up extremely quickly. This is a lifelong condition and their is no surgery to cure it. He will need valve replacements throughout his life,” Candice explained.
Leon is self-employed and Candice now works part time in the evenings so she can be there for Liam during the day to try and help daily expenses.
According to the couple, getting to the hospital and back everyday costs them R3 800 on fuel alone in a month.
“We are so grateful to Paul for running this competition for us to raise funds. We are very humbled by the gesture. We have had help from many friends and people donating into our GoFundMe page which is helping us with Liam’s associated costs. People don’t realise the costs involved in caring for a child for over five months,” she added.
A GoFundMe page is available to anyone who would like to donate to Liam. Search for Baby Rootman cardiac fund on the GoFund Me website or visit Our children’s journey with congenital heart defects Facebook Page.
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