Former Uplands pupil dies in car crash

MBOMBELA – Delsya Urmson (19), an Uplands former pupil, died in a car crash on Sunday morning at around 10h30.

Delsya was in a bakkie with two other people travelling back to Pretoria from the Bronkhorstspruit dam. The driver allegedly swung out of the way of an oncoming car overtaking on a blind turn. The driver lost control of the vehicle, rolled and hit a tree. The driver had some bruises and the other passenger was admitted to hospital with a back fracture.

Delsya’s story was exceptional. She had problems with her health from an early age and underwent reconstructive surgery on her legs. She had around four or five follow-up operations after this, according to her father.

“She smiled her way through all of the operations,” Lourenza Urmson, Delsya’s sister, told Lowvelder.

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“The worst operation was one where the doctors broke 13 bones in her legs and feet when she was five years old. She was known as ‘the little girl who wore glasses’ from when she was only one year old.”

Yet, at school she was an overachiever of note, with the most hilarious laugh, Lourenza said.

“She was kind, gentle and soft-spoken. Everywhere she went, happiness went with her.”

Despite the setbacks early on in her life, Delsya played for Uplands College’s first hockey team, and was the captain of the girls’ tennis team and the school’s best tennis player for a number of years. Her achievements on the sports field earned her the school’s Arthur Gaydon-Connock Trophy at the end of grade 12.

Delsya also managed to achieve the second highest average on the Order of Merit that year, earning six distinctions, which earned her the Proxime Accessit award.

She matriculated in 2018.

A memorial for Delsya Urmson will be held at the Uplands College Hall on Saturday January 18 at 11:00.

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*Please note: this article has been updated.