Help little Brodie get the medical care he needs

While many parents might take some of their child’s minor developmental milestones for granted, local couple, Shaun and Louise Snyman have been praying for as little as one step or one word from their four-year-old son, Brodie.

Little Brodie had a most unfortunate start to life as he sustained severe brain damage during birth. In the first two years of his life he spent more time in a hospital bed than in his own.

During that time he was diagnosed with multiple life-threatening chronic illnesses, which include cerebral palsy, epilepsy, dystonia, asthma, bronchiectasis, CVI (chronic venous insufficiency), scoliosis, microcephaly and displaced hips. He also depends on oxygen and tube-feeding. Due to his weak lungs he can go into respiratory failure at any given time.

“When Brodie was born we had to decide who was going to stay home and look after him, and who would be continuing with their employment. My husband then quit his job and started a small business from our garage. Unfortunately I was retrenched not long thereafter, and this put us in an ongoing exceptionally stressful financial situation,” Louise explained.

“When Covid started we got behind on our medical aid payments and weren’t able to keep up with Brodie’s medical needs or any of our other expenses. It just doesn’t get easier – we simply cannot afford his medicine.”

Since they have eight-year-old twins as well, they regularly rely on their school’s feeding scheme to provide them with food parcels. The family also struggles on a daily basis without any transportation of their own.

“We live with this constant worry about how we’re going to get him to hospital should anything happen. We use Uber at the moment, but it’s very costly and one can never be too sure as to how quickly they will be able to arrive,” she said.

Their little fighter also requires medical equipment which is not covered by the medical aid. This includes a specialised nebuliser, standing frame and oxygen machine. He also requires constant neuro and physiotherapy.

“We are strong but it’s all getting too much. The stress, fear and worry have become such a big part of us, we don’t know how to cope anymore. We love our children so much, and it pains us to put them through this struggle. The little money we get in goes straight towards food and other necessities. We just cannot get on top of it all,” Shaun said.

They currently have a huge amount of medical and house debt which they simply cannot afford. Even though they dream of providing Brodie with the medical attention he needs, they cannot see this dream being fulfilled without any help and assistance from the community.

That’s why the family recently created a BackaBuddy page. If you would like to support them or find out more, feel free to visit their BackaBuddy page at https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/brodie-snyman or Facebook page, Brodie Snyman’s Journey.