Community Rallies to Fund Spine Surgery for 14-Year-Old Jinnelee

Photo Credit: Kaboompics.com via Pexels

There are angels among us. In this story, we share how they rallied and raised all the funds needed to remarkably change the life of a 14-year-old girl courageously facing a painful and debilitating scoliosis diagnosis.

Johannesburg, South Africa (03 July 2025) – When desperate need is met with relentless compassion, hope is ignited, lives are changed, and the world becomes a better place.

This Mandela Month, 14-year-old Jinnelee Jansen van Vuuren is one of 40 patients who will receive life-changing surgeries through Operation Healing Hands’ ongoing efforts to heal and restore hope to those who could not be assisted through public healthcare.

As a teen in her prime years, all Jinnelee has wanted to do is enjoy netball, horses and other fun activities. However, a severe scoliosis diagnosis has robbed her of these simple joys.

Since she was 10, despite her best efforts to wear a back brace, her spine has progressively twisted into an S-shape, a deformation that has impacted her organ function, breathing, and left her in constant pain.

With her parents not being on medical aid and unable to fork out the R600,000 needed for her surgery in private healthcare, Operation Healing Hands (OHH) stepped in to help.

OOH managed to secure the services of all the surgeons, supporting medical staff, equipment, and most of the donations toward the theatre and associated costs.

All they needed was another R50,000 to make Jinnelee’s operation a reality, and after knocking on the right door, the Jacaranda FM Good Morning Angels.

The Good Morning Angels had received a whopping R1,024,000 donation during a recent competition at the station. From these funds, the outstanding R50,000 was paid towards Jinnelee’s life-changing spinal surgery. They will also contribute an additional R50,000 toward the costs of the other 39 surgeries that OHH will be performing this Mandela Month, bringing the total donation to R100,000.

It’s always so beautiful to see kindness and generosity in action, changing the lives of those most in need. We hope Jinnelee’s surgery goes well and that she will soon get back to playing netball and doing all the things her heart desires.