Northside journo says goodbye

• Nicola Jansen van Vuuren, Northsider journalist, writes:

I’ll be completely honest. Writing this farewell letter is bittersweet. I know I’ve only known you for a year-and-a-half, but I feel like I’ve been accepted into the Northside community long before that. A community that stands together and steps up when one of its own is in need. As most know, I am leaving due to health reasons, otherwise, I’d be fighting tooth and nail to stay.

I have learnt so many different life lessons from every person I have interacted with. I’ve always believed to be a good community journalist or even just a decent writer, you have to give a little bit of yourself to those you interview and interact with, to be able to tell their stories and do them justice. My grandfather was an editor for the Afrikaans newspaper, Rapport, and although he passed away when I was very young, I believe he’d be proud of how far I’ve come.

A bit of background, I completed my Bachelor of Social Sciences degree majoring in Journalism and International Studies in 2018. I was fortunate to have a journalist position waiting for me at Caxton’s Letaba Herald branch in Tzaneen. I spent the last bit of that year and the first few months of 2019 doing what a journalist does best. Running down stories, attending events, and interacting with the community. I felt like I had my whole life in front of me, planned out, growing as a writer. Hopefully, one day I will become an editor as well…

As James Blunt wrote in his song The Girl That Never Was, the first casualty of life is a plan. I got diagnosed with Gardner’s Syndrome and had to have 90% of my colon removed.

Right there, all my plans went out the window … it was a dark space and I had to climb out of the dark pit of negativity and find myself again.

Covid happened, I adapted and learnt how to draft civil engineering designs, helped my father with his reports and I slowly started to feel like myself again.
My mother was alone on this side of the world, and I knew I wanted to pursue my passion for writing again. By whatever luck I had left, I was fortunate enough to get a position at the Roodepoort Northsider and I moved in with my mom.

Last year, in November I believe, I got very sick – we thought it might’ve just been a stomach bug – when it went on for weeks we knew something was wrong. Long story short, my doctor found the pesky growths that took my colon all over my stomach lining down to my duodenum (the first part of your smaller intestine). We did the tests and tried to keep it for as long as possible, but in October my doctor said those dreaded words, ‘we have to remove your stomach’.

I’ve noticed my energy and endurance dwindling, and I am having the surgery as soon as possible in 2024. With this, I want you – my Northside community – to know that I am not leaving for greener pastures, but rather to take on this huge mountain in front of me – hopefully coming out on the other side with most of myself intact.

Your support and donations toward my medical funds have left me humbled and you’ve left me speechless. I want you to know that the memories I’ve made, the people I’ve met, and the stories I’ve been fortunate to tell will keep me strong and fill me with hope throughout this battle. This year and a half have been a blessing, an opportunity for me to realise that no matter how many times life bucks you off or throws you down, you can always climb back on and try your best.

Farewell Northside, you’ve got a special place in my heart.

All the best, Nicola.