Byron Leggett and five of his friends are running the Comrades to raise funds for Izzy, a tenacious young girl who has a bright future ahead of her.
Byron Leggett spoke to his wife, Nicky, about her work as an occupational therapist at L.U.C.C.A. which is a support and care centre for special needs children in Randburg. He learned about a bright young girl in need of specialised equipment.
After hearing her story, he and 5 friends decided to take on the mammoth Comrades marathon to open up a young girl’s life to new possibilities.
The friends from Johannesburg and Durban were inspired by the ethos of the 90 km ultra-marathon, known as the ‘ultimate human race’ which takes place this weekend, on the 10th of June 2018. The friends taking part in the Comrades are Byron Leggett (32), Bryan Hellon (32), Teran Peyper (32), JP van Zittert (28), Greg Kilfoil (32) and Craig Pike (32)
“We started to realize that the Comrades Marathon is genuinely about the human spirit and how people are pushed to do more than they believe is possible. So we started chatting about how we can use our experience to better someone else’s life.” – says Byron
Nicky then introduced the guys to Isabella Beck (8). Izzy, as she is affectionately known, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a congenital disorder of movement, muscle tone and coordination that affects 1 in 326 children in South Africa.
She experiences both physical and visual impairment, symptoms common with her condition, and relies on others to navigate her environment and interact with her peers.
“Due to her inability to communicate verbally, she is restricted in answering questions in class, engaging/playing with her friends and cousins. It also prevents her being able to call for when she is hungry, sore or needs to go to the bathroom. Currently, Izzy communicates with pictures and hand gestures.” – says Byron
Anyone who meets Izzy describes a beaming personality, a smile that can melt hearts and an intelligence not to be underestimated.
“Izzy is just the sweetest girl. Her smile is no doubt the deal breaker, she laughs when people tell jokes and she enjoys listening to Wackhead Simpson, her personal favourite. She is so excited about life; often we complain about such small things and here you have a little girl who has so many restrictions and yet she never gives up” – says Byron
The team met up with Izzy at her uncle’s home in Sandringham where her parents Liesle and Carl and older brother Ryder were also present. They were moved by the loving support she receives from her family and the commitment they all share in helping her to reach her fullest potential.
The guys wanted to assist Izzy and her family in the most meaningful way, so they set up a campaign on BackaBuddy to appeal to the public to help purchase Izzy a highly specialized eye tracker. The device operating on specific software will allow Izzy to access her communication system through her eye movements and a selection of images and words that will generate a voice output on her command.
“This device will give Izzy a sense of independence and finally, she will have the ‘voice’ she has always longed for. She will finally be able to indicate when she is tired and needs a nap, she will be able to affectionately argue with her brother, as children do, she will be able to form friendships and tell her parents that she loves them” – says Byron
The campaign went live on the 14th of May and has raised R19k so far from 25 donors. This is a massive dent towards their goal of R60 000. The cost total comes from various systems and technology involved in setting up an eye-tracking unit. They did their research and found that they would need an eye-tracker, computer and the grid system, a mounting of the device and relevant training material and training of software.
“This year Izzy has started with a program called the GRID and this will allow her to communicate in every aspect of her life and show us her amazing sense of humour. Part of the struggle currently is that the access to using this system is primarily reliant on the use of her arms which is effortful and tiring and therefore limiting the speed to communicate.”
This new unit will help Izzy communicate efficiently and will support her for many years to come. These men are working to invest in her future. A noble deed, indeed!
If you would like to contribute to Izzy’s eye tracker, you can do so by donating here.
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