WHITE RIVER – An 89-year-old resident of Rustig Old Age Home was able to celebrate a last Christmas with her loved ones before she died on January 9, thanks to the generosity of a local car dealer.
Ms Stella de Boo was wheelchair-bound and without Nelspruit Auto, would not have been able to see her great-grandchildren open their presents.
Stella was born in Wales in June 1924 and was a nurse during World War II. She was also a telephonist.
She moved to Africa about 10 years ago, following her son, Terry, and his family. Terry says they were living in a tented camp on a game park in Mozambique at that time. “She lived with us ‘under canvas’ for about three years,” he says.
Stella only became wheelchair-bound about a year ago, when her health deteriorated. At the time she was living at Macadamia in White River, but moved to Rustig Old Age Home when she needed more care.
Terry and his wife were living in White River and their daughter, Vicky Cochrane and her family lived out on the Plaston Road. They would often visit with Stella or fetch her for a visit at one of their houses.
Up until six months ago, the family could still get her from her wheelchair into the car and back, but it soon became impractical. When Christmas approached they realised that because of the difficulty of transporting Stella, this could be the first Christmas she couldn’t visit.
The family approached Nelspruit Auto and asked if it had a vehicle they could borrow that would be able to fit the wheelchair with Stella in it.
Nelspruit Auto offered their Transit and a few chairs were removed in order to fit the wheelchair. It was great fun transporting Stella to the Cochrane house on Christmas morning and she enjoyed watching her great-grandchildren open their gifts. She received a couple of her own and intently opened each one.
Stella’s family wants to thank the dealership for its wonderful gift, as she really enjoyed the outing.
Family members also want to extend their thanks to the wonderful staff of Rustig Old Age Home for taking such good care of Stella. Terry says the family could see that the personnel really cared for Stella and was saddened by her passing.
According to Terry, Stella was joking with them and commenting on the news a day before she died. She was being treated for pneumonia and was expected to pull through, but sadly died in the arms of attending nurses.
Instead of a memorial service, a gathering for friends and those who attended to her during the last year was held on January 13.
