The procedure to remove Zulené Koekemoer’s tonsils will be carried out by Dr. Mario Rudolph at Mediclinic in Nelspruit. Her parents, Jakes and Erane Koekemoer started a Back-a-Buddy account to help raise the R50 000 needed for their daughter’s operation but could only raise R 3 174. “We then sold raffle tickets and the draw took place on July 1 at BUCO.

Riaan Scott, the branch manager, did the draw, and on July 5 we handed six prizes to our winners,” said Erane. They managed to raise over R43 000 through donations and the raffle. Zulené was only one year old when tonsillitis was diagnosed for the first time.

Also read: Help raise funds for little girl’s tonsil operation

“She had a high fever, and we couldn’t bring it down for three days. She vomited, only drank water, had a runny nose, coughed, and wanted to sleep. Her medication only started to work on the fourth day,” Erane told the Herald. This repeated itself every few months and Zulené was constantly on antibiotics and her immune system deteriorated.

“We gave her immune boosters and visited several doctors and clinics. At one point we decided to go to Hlokomela so that they could record how often she was sick. After five months the doctor advised that her tonsils should be removed.” They called all the hospitals in and around Limpopo and Mpumalanga, but unfortunately, no state hospital was able to help them.