Hitting the road for child surgeries
Pediatric Care Africa hopes to help 45 children with surgeries this year, while allowing access to private, specialist doctors for a further 400 children.
Pediatric Care Africa’s annual Ride for a Child campaign had bikers clocking 7 000km on the charity bike ride from White River to Durban.
Hitting the road on February 12, the five bikers – director and founder of the initiative Dr Andre Hattingh, Lazyja and Lo-mar Steyn, and Jackie and Jaco Botha – completed the ride on March 4.
As has become custom, the group made a stop in Ballito on March 1, sharing details on how Pediatric Care Africa raises funds for critical surgeries for children in need.
Hattingh said they visit orphanages along the route and raise funds for critical surgeries, while distributing toys and food.
Pediatric Care Africa hopes to help 45 children with surgeries this year, while allowing access to private, specialist doctors for a further 400 children.
Sponsors donate R1 for every kilometer they travel.
The team kept with tradition and visited Durban’s St Thomas Home for Children where the children are given the opportunity to ride with the bikers.
“Their faces beamed with excitement and joy. It really does not take much to make a child happy, as they don’t ask for rubies or diamonds, only a bit of love and care,” said Hattingh.
The bikers plan to establish a new world record next year, with the largest number of motorbikes riding in staggered formation for a charity on one stretch of road at the same time.
“We hope for a minimum of 1 001 bikes, but would love to exceed 4 500 bikes,” he said.
“We challenge KwaZulu-Natal to beat whatever number we manage to set up in the Western Cape,” Hattingh said, issuing a challenge to the province.
Since starting in 2017, Pediatric Care Africa has helped provide free medical treatment to 5 895 people and 1 390 children were taken to private doctors and specialists, while 100 children received critical surgeries.
For more information on the cause, visit www.pediatriccareafrica.org.
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