‘Dead’ woman now battles to survive
She was declared dead in 2006 and then wrongfully diagnosed after she had a heart attack
VANESSA Lorraine Ryan (54) had to watch her life crumble into pieces before her eyes as, according to Home Affairs, she had been dead for eight years. She also had a heart attack a year ago and was wrongfully diagnosed with and treated for a lung problem, which eventually caused her left lung to collapse and she developed a chronic heart condition.
She depends on an oxygen mask and can never work again.
Over and above that, the frail woman had not received her salary for over a year, as all her bank accounts were closed after she had been declared dead.
Ryan, a former professional nurse who worked at Arwyp for eight years, had a heart attack while at her part time job as a cleaner.
“I cleaned someone’s home whenever I was off duty. On February 24 last year, I was at the home in Bredell, when I suddenly collapsed. At the time, I didn’t know it was heart attack,” Ryan tells her story in a soft tone evident of her weakness from being sick.
Although she was on medical aid, she was not taken to Arwyp or any other private hospital. She was rushed straight to Tembisa Hospital.
“They said the reason they didn’t take me to Arwyp was because although the doctor’s consultation costs, together with staying at the hospital and treatment, would amount to more than what my medical aid would pay.”
Ryan was later transferred to Edenvale Hospital, where she was told there were specialists who would be able to treat her, as Tembisa Hospital couldn’t.
At Edenvale Hospital a doctor examined her and diagnosed she had water on her lungs. A pipe was connected to her left lung to suck out the water. Unfortunately, this was the wrong diagnosis, as Ryan would later find out from another doctor.
“For three months I had a pipe in my lung, sucking out water, which eventually caused my left lung to collapse.”
This resulted in her developing a chronic heart condition which requires her to be on an oxygen machine 24/7, which also means she is unable to work as the oxygen machine is too heavy to carry around and forces her to be stationary.
Ryan stayed at Edenvale Hospital until August last year and was then transferred to Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, where she stayed until she was discharged in December. Tembisa Hospital organised an oxygen machine and extra cylinders for her.
Since being discharged, she has been admitted to hospital every month because of regular complications.
To add to Ryan’s problems, she has not received her salary from work for the past 16 months, as all her bank accounts were closed due to the fact that she was declared dead.
“When I stopped receiving my money, I enquired from the hospital and the banks why I wasn’t getting my money. That was when I discovered my accounts were all closed because I was declared dead on November 1, 2006.
“Home Affairs told me that it could have happened because of fraudulent schemes, which they said they would investigate.”
She has since applied for a new ID but it will take another six to eight weeks to be issued. In the meantime, she will continue to go without a salary.
“It’s very difficult to survive every day because I have no income whatsoever. I haven’t paid my rent for a long time and am lucky my landlord has been so understanding about it. I need to pay electricity, which I especially need for the oxygen machine. I have no money to buy food or anything.
“I am just so blessed that the people around me help me in any way they can.”
Anyone who would like to help with any kind of donation, can call William Markus on 079-537-3280 or Mpumi Mgoboza on 082-971-5669.
