A trip to visit Ballito to visit his girlfriend Teagan Leap for Christmas turned into a nightmare for Gauteng teacher Stefan Loedolff.

The 23-year-old from Bronkhorstspruit, a recently qualified teacher with a passion for rugby, is battling Covid-19 in ICU at Netcare Alberlito Hospital.

His sister Hildegard said he felt ill after going to the beach on December 23, but brushed it off as sunstroke. But when the symptoms worsened he was admitted to hospital and given a vitamin drip to help ease the sunstroke.

While at Alberlito, he was given a Covid-19 test that came back positive, but he had recovered enough to be sent home.

Two days later, however, the symptoms worsened and a constant shortness of breath prompted another trip to the hospital.

“He does have asthma but always has it under control. This was something far worse,” said Hildegard. A CT scan showed the infection rife in his lungs and that his kidneys were beginning to fail.”

He was intubated and recovered slightly, eating for the first time since admission.

“He ate a banana, his first bit of food for a few days and trust me, Stefan loves to eat.”

The situation took a turn for the worse when one of his lungs collapsed. He was rushed to an operating theatre and his lung was repaired, with his kidneys now the central worry.

“He has not had dialysis yet, but from what the doctor was saying it had almost got bad enough that he would have to.”

Hildegard said her brother was fit and strong, which showed that the virus could catch anyone.

Three days later and Stefan is stable but still in the ICU and struggling to keep up with the mounting medical bills.

He was meant to get added to medical aid as an education department employee this year, but the virus meant he was not able to in time.

His sister started a backabuddy page as a way to pay for the hospital stay and any costs that may arise afterwards.

“The support has been great so far, we are not a 15-man rugby team tackling this but an entire community of 50 or 60.

All we can do is pray and hope that his story gets out there, but we are confident the second half is starting and things are only going to improve.”

You can find Stefan’s backabuddy page at backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/stefan-loedolff.

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