Scott Arendse spent two years raising funds for this day, the day his friend could have a kidney transplant in a private hospital and it was a success!
Obey Togarepi is a Zimbabwean living and working in South Africa, he experienced an awful realisation when he was diagnosed with Kidney failure and the hospital he was at, told him to go home and spend time with his family. The hospital refused to give him life-saving treatment even though he had a legal work permit.
Obey couldn’t give up so he and his wife used most of their monthly salary to have dialysis twice a week. While his health was improving thanks to the treatment his total dialysis bill hit over 100K quickly! This is when Scott Arendse stepped in to help make a difference.
“Last May [2016], I organised a tennis marathon, ‘Serving for Obey’, in which I played non-stop for 12 hours. The idea was to raise funds to assist Obey, but also to raise awareness around his plight. It seemed crazy that a human being contributing to the economy couldn’t receive treatment via the state. I set out to show Obey that, despite this, there are people who do care.”
Scott managed to raise R 30,000.00 at his ‘Serving for Obey’ event which was a massive help towards Obey and his family. But it only made a small dent!
Scott hosted a second 12-hour game in 2017 to further assist Obey with medical bills. Thankfully Obey applied for private medical cover and reached his one year exclusion period on the 1st of June 2017. His dialysis costs were then covered by his medical aid and he was able to have access to his salary again.
This is a moving story about two strangers standing together in hard times and becoming like family! Scott recently shared a wonderful update with us. Obey has had a kidney transplant!
His sister was a match and gladly donated her kidney to her brother. Obey received the initial call on Tuesday 23rd October to inform him that the transplant will take place on the 30th October. The operation was delayed for further blood testing and then, once all was cleared, the transplant took place on 13 November.
Obey is currently in ICU with very few visitors but is overjoyed that he finally has a new lease on life.
“Obey’s wife, Ashell and the kids are so relieved and grateful that the operation has been successful and cannot wait for the future, one that may not have happened if the life-saving transplant did not take place.”
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“When Obey got the news he was very excited. It has been a long road to walk and some tough times, but also some truly amazing memories and moments. The surgery has been a success and the kidney is already functioning well. His sister is also recovering well and in good spirits”
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