Ballito burn victim overcoming the odds

Overcoming adversity is easier said than done, but some people overcome so much that you would think they can do anything.

Connor Ahern is a teenager from Ballito who has, in his brother Declan’s words, “endured and overcome far more hardship in his 18 years than most people can handle in a lifetime”.

Ahern was born suffering from persistent foetal circulation, a life-threatening condition in newborns with a low expectation for survival.

He spent five weeks in intensive care, had part of his kidney removed and, when he finally left the hospital, had lost his hearing.

As if deafness was not enough, life added to his hardships recently when he was visiting a friend in Pietermaritzburg and he woke in the small hours of the morning to find the house on fire.
“I woke up in the lounge,” Ahern wrote to The Courier.

“The electrical box was on fire, I could see the switches but there was so much smoke I could barely breathe. Without thinking I ran straight to Jason’s (his friend) room to wake him up and help him.”

Ahern and his friend hurried to the front door to try escape the flames, during which time he suffered severe burns to his hands, shoulders and face.

When they made it out of the burning house, emergency services were called and Ahern waited for an ambulance to arrive. While the whole family made it out of the fire with nothing more than minor burns, Ahern was not so lucky.
“The ambulance came as quickly as they could, but the pain made it feel like I was waiting for hours.”

Ahern was rushed to hospital, where he was put in an induced coma for 24 hours.

“I was on life support because of the burns and also because I could not breathe due to the amount of smoke I had inhaled,” he wrote.

After three surgeries, eight days in ICU and eleven days in a general ward, he was released from hospital on September 7. Now he faces the long, hard road of emotional, physical and
psychological rehabilitation.

“My brother is the strongest person I know,” said Declan.

“For 18 years he has suffered due to circumstances he had no control over. However, if his recovery this far is anything to go by I am sure he is going to be back stronger than ever.”

The fire and subsequent hospitalisation has left his family with massive hospital bills and they are appealing to the Dolphin Coast community for help.

“We are really struggling with the medical bills,” his mother Debbie told The Courier.

The family are also concerned about where their son and brother, who has a passion for both photography and sport, can find work now that he is finished with school.

If you would like to assist Connor in his long road to recovery, make a donation to the family by transferring funds to:

• Acc Holder: MRS KAREN MAIDEN
• Bank: ABSA
• Acc number: 9331561332
• Branch: La Lucia branch, 632005
• Acc type: Savings
• Reference: ‘Connor Ahern’

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