Hester is recovering in Pretoria

They entered the house using a spare key and found Ms Kemp barely conscious in the bedroom. There was no way to give her oxygen.

March 23, 2017

Zita Goldswain 2 minutes read

The elderly woman, who was admitted to hospital after not getting enough oxygen, was discharged late last week.
Ms Hester Kemp (76) is in Pretoria where she is recovering after spending three weeks in Life Cosmos Hospital where she was treated for fluid in her lungs.

Ms Kemp was found half-conscious at home by her daughter‚ Yolande on February 21.
She is depended on an oxygen machine and could not start her generator to aid her in breathing.

“We didn’t have water or power at my home so I said to my husband that we should go have a bath at my mom’s house as she had water. But when we got there‚ she didn’t open her door and her power was off‚” said Yolande.

They entered the house using a spare key and found Ms Kemp barely conscious in the bedroom. There was no way to give her oxygen.

Ms Hester Kemp is recovering after a lack of oxygen landed her in hospital.

Yolande phoned for an ambulance and paramedics rushed to give her mother oxygen and take her to hospital.
Yolande blames the municipal manager, Mr Theo van Vuuren for her mother’s condition.

“I had sent many messages to Theo. I begged them to switch on the power because my mom needed it‚” she said.

Yolande says her family has done all it can to “survive” the water and electricity crisis in Witbank.

“My father passed away in December. He was always starting the generator when the power went off and now‚ my mom lives alone. It’s not like she is incapable of taking care of herself but she can’t start the generator alone‚” she said.

Yolande is happy to report that he medical aid has given them an extra oxygen cylinder.

“We had a battle to get the extra cylinder. It is like driving a Lamborghini in eMalahleni. You don’t know when you will hit the next pothole. According to the medical aid it is a risk to give my mom another cylinder because of the power interruptions. It is not advised that an oxygen machine is connected to a generator.”

Mr Kingdom Mabuza, municipal spokesperson reacted to the accusation against Van Vuuren and said:

“We sympathise with the Kemp family and would like to get more information about the actual circumstances surrounding this before we could accept the blame.”

Mabuza asked families with people dependent on oxygen to alert the municipality, so that in an event when there is power interruption they could assist.