Mother and son of local family bedridden after terrifying accident
A local family was traumatised when one of their members and her little boy were left bedridden after a near-fatal accident on Van Rheenen's Pass in January.
KOMATIPOORT – Despite facing a stack of medical bills and other expenses, along with the difficult road to recovery, two severely injured members of the Moss family are beacons of positivity.
Isabel Moss (formerly Buys) grew up in Komatipoort and attended the former Laerskool Komatipoort and later Hoërskool Nelspruit. Some of her family, including her sister Marlene le Roux, still live here.
After school she moved to Johannesburg and later married Alex Moss. They lived in England for a couple of years, where they had their first son, Ethan (11). They had their second son, Jake (5), after moving back to South Africa.
Isabel and Jake were on their way from Durban to Johannesburg on January 7, when a vehicle rounded a corner a high speed, slid on the wet road and crashed into them head-on.
She and Jake were airlifted to a trauma unit in Bloemfontein. Their nanny, Selina, was taken to Harrismith Hospital, where she was operated on and released later on. She is doing better now.
Isabel sustained 11 broken bones and was sedated for the first three weeks. According to the doctors, it wasn’t possible for the body to handle that level of pain.
Isabel has had a few operations, but will need to go for several more, including a knee replacement.
Jake broke his spine and spinal cord and despite the doctor’s efforts, his spinal cord was not reparable. The five-year-old won’t be able to walk again. He also had to undergo emergency operations to stop internal bleeding and remove parts of his colon and small intestine.
They were in Bloemfontein ICU for a month before they were moved to hospitals and rehabilitation centres in Johannesburg.
Husband Alex and son Ethan were in Bloemfontein for a month, missing school and work, to support their loved ones and a long, hard road still lies ahead.
According to Isabel’s sister, Marlene, the doctor confirmed that the soonest Jake will be able to go home is July. They’ll have to revamp the whole house to make it wheelchair-accessible for Jake.
Isabel has to learn to walk again before she can go home.
The ordeal is very hard on the family as the two patients are in different centres. Dad and brother have to drive up and down between work and school and the centres to have a bit of time together as a family each day.
Any community members who would like to contribute towards the family’s medical and other expenses, can visit the Moss Family Support Page on Facebook or contact Marlene on 083-397-6157 or Alex on 071-609-8343.
