THE third annual Faron-Mae Fisher golf day takes place at Umdoni Golf Club in Pennington on Sunday, 24 July.
“Join us for the annual fundraiser for our little girl, who has come so far since last year. Her progress was only made possible by your continued support,” said her mother, Paula. “It promises to a fun-filled day for all, so take your children along for some awesome activities.”
Five-year-old Faron-Mae was diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic disease, glycogen storage type 0 in June 2012 at the age of 18 months.
Instead of the first two years of her life being full of milestones such as her first smile, first words, favourite foods, crawling and walking, it was the hardest stage of her life. She fought to survive each day, slipping in and out of consciousness, and battling nausea, pallor and chronic vomiting.
At the age of 22 months, she weighed a mere 3.5kg, following her birth weight of 2.5kg. She was left severely developmentally delayed, unable to eat or drink through her mouth, crawl, walk or talk.
Despite not being able to walk, talk or eat through her mouth, this brave little fighter has continued to tackle whatever challenges life throws at her. She communicates non-verbally with the use of cards and receives her nutritional requirements through a feeding tube in her stomach.
She attends sensory therapy, alternate augmentative communication therapy and physiotherapy weekly, which has been beneficial to her growth and development.
Faron-Mae was then diagnosed with kyphscoliosis. As a result her spine has a 68 degree curvature, which if left unremedied, can be life-threatening.
She underwent growth rod surgery on her spine to correct this curvature in February, where metal rods were inserted into her back on either side of her spine to assist with gradual straightening as she grows. Every six months she has to undergo a lengthening procedure through surgery, to allow her spine growth to be in sync with the growth rod length, up to the age of 10 years of age. Medical aid will not fund the full cost of the surgery, neither the recovery via physiotherapy, or orthotic brace.
Costs escalated, so her parents set up a trust fund for the public to assist financially with medical bills, as well as holding a number of fundraisers during the year, including the golf day which has become a memorable event on the Umdoni calendar.
The format for the golf day is a fourball scramble stableford points (handicap is 10% of combined handicaps).The cost is R150 per person and tee-off is from 11am. Book and pay with Veni or Pam at the pro shop on 039-975-1320.
Sponsor a hole at a cost of R500 by calling Dean Fisher on 083-278-8040 or Ronald Cole on 083-798-8438. Email your company logo for a hole flag on the day to Paula.Fisher@unilever.com.
“My husband Dean and I run various small fundraisers throughout the year but the big one is our annual golf day, which is very close to our hearts,” said Paula.
If you would like to support this fundraiser, call Paula on 082-304-8195.
All funds raised for Faron-Mae are solely for her registered trust with independent trustees and an independent accountant that manages it.
Trust details:
- The Faron-Mae Fisher Trust,
- IT number: 933/2012 (Durban),
- First National Bank, business account,
- account number: 62382573783,
- branch code: 25065.
