Plea for help to save Troy’s life
Troy Matthysen urgently needs R500 000 for surgery to remove brain tumours and save his life. Troy (15) was diagnosed with Juvenile Nasopharyngeal Angiofibroma (JNA), an extremely rare disease that affects adolescent boys, at the end of 2021.
Surgery is the principal treatment for JNA and Troy was treated at a hospital in Pretoria last year when an operation was performed to remove the benign vascular tumour. “While we all breathed a sigh of relief that this was now all over, two more tumours appeared a few months later,” says Mark Lewis, a friend of the Matthysen family and director of Jahara Treatment Centre. “The nose bleeds started, the inability to see in the morning, serious congestion and, of course, panic, and fear,” says Lewis. Troy was back in the hospital last year and waited six weeks for a transfer to another hospital in order to do surgery again.
“It was during this time of waiting in the hospital that the tumours grew and became ‘inoperable’ according to the doctors,” says Lewis. Troy was discharged on January 26. “Refusing to accept this outcome, we did everything we could to get his case reassessed. God came through and we were directed to a neurosurgeon who personally took on this case,” says Lewis. A team of specialists arranged for updated MRI and CT scans and have come up with a plan to operate according to Lewis. “We do not have time. The tumours continue to grow into the brain and are obstructing the optical nerves,” says Lewis.
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Troy was rushed to hospital last week Tuesday after he began to bleed badly again. “His condition is deteriorating quickly, and his nose has been bleeding almost daily,” Lewis explains. His father and Kampersrus local, Jeff, is appealing to the community at large to donate funds for this life-saving operation. “We have confidence in the surgeons who will be operating. They have been truly amazing in getting us to this point. They can save this young man if we can get the funding.
We do not have time to apply and go through the different channels for pro bono surgery and so we are reaching out to the community for help,” says Lewis. At the time the Herald went to press on Monday, Lewis confirmed that an estimated R180 000 has already been raised for Troy’s operation. “If you would like the details of the surgeons let me know. We are very happy if you would like to donate directly to them,” says Lewis.
