Passport to closure for Ballito family

After an eight-month-long ordeal to get her brother’s ashes back home following his freak death in the UK, Ballito’s Kayleigh Ginsberg’s faith in humanity has been restored thanks to a complete stranger.

With all other options exhausted to get Tyson Shaw’s (28) ashes home and with the news that his passport has to be sent to the UK, Ginsberg took to Facebook to ask for help earlier this month.

“I knew I was taking a risk to give my brother’s passport to a stranger, but I was desperate and this seemed like the only possible way.”

Shortly after the post went up, someone tagged Eugene Zietsman’s name in the comment section and moments later he made contact with Ginsberg.

“This total stranger phoned me, said he is going to England the next day, picked up the passport and wanted nothing in return. I did not even ask him for his details, I just knew his heart was in it and that this was going to work out.”

Zietsman, who lives in Empangeni, sent her an sms moments after he left to reassure her that he will take care of the passport and that he knows how precious it was to her.

Meanwhile, her friend Frances Clark, who happened to be in the UK for work at the time, made contact with a friend of Ginsberg’s cousin, Dylan Dante Gordon, who met Tyson a few times when he was younger.

They started a WhatsApp group called ‘Bring Tyson Home’ and the three musketeers constantly kept Ginsberg in the loop about the passport’s whereabouts.

“I remember receiving updates from Frances and these two strangers feeling so overwhelmed, I had tears of happiness running down my face. I honestly cannot believe they were so committed to help.”

When Tyson was finally cremated – four months after his passing, due to tests and investigations that were done to try determine the cause of his death, which remains a mystery – Gordon collected his ashes.

“He treated the ashes like they belonged to his family, sitting in a church, lighting candles to honour Tyson’s life.”

She said Zietsman met up with Gordon to hand over the passport. Gordon then met with Clark to give her the ashes and passport and she flew back to South Africa for the long-awaited hand over to Ginsberg.

“I’m pretty sure these people were placed in my path by God to help in this mission. I will forever be grateful for what Eugene, Frances and Dylan have done for me. When I had lost all hope, they stepped up for me and showed me love and compassion. Without their help my family and I would not have closure, and I would not be sitting here with a smile on my face and a sense of freedom from the pain his passing has caused.”

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