Golf day to help with girl’s rehabilitation
Doctors said that she would never be able to walk again, but with determination she proved them wrong.
When Stacey Farrell was involved in a serious car accident in September last year doctors had little hope that she would survive her injuries – let alone walk again.
But this young and vibrant 18-year-old was determined to prove them wrong.
Stacey was a matric pupil at Monument High School when she was involved in a head-on collision after another vehicle had skipped a stop sign in broad daylight.
This accident left her with severe neck injuries and her C6 and C7 vertebrae were dislocated. She was taken to the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg where she was placed in traction.
The doctors operated on her neck to realign and fuse the vertebrae, but during the operation her lungs collapsed and medical staff battled for three hours to save her life.
The surgeon informed her mother Cathy that if she survived, she would be a quadriplegic because of paralysis from the neck down as the dislocation was so severe.
For the following few days Stacey battled just to keep breathing as she had double pneumonia. Her family’s prayers were followed by a miracle – she was discharged from hospital and advised to start physiotherapy.
With determination she completed her matric in February this year and now, after hours of therapy at the Auckland Park Rehabilitation Centre where the friendly staff helped her to reach her full potential, she is able to pull herself up on her walking frame.
There she continues to amaze her therapists with her progress, achieving goals in half the time set out for them. However the costs of rehabilitation and meeting Stacey’s basic needs are very high.
“We were told that physiotherapy had to be started right away after surgery and suddenly we were confronted with rehabilitation and other costs of over a quarter of a million rand,” says Cathy.
A four-ball golf day is scheduled at the Krugersdorp Golf Club for 9 May to raise funds to help the family to cover these costs.
To book a four ball of R2 000 or help to sponsor the golf day contact Pauline Cox on 082 562 4503 or via email at pauline@6thdimension.co.za.
