Cherry-Lee Bekker got the worst news while on holiday in the UK, she had a brain tumour which prevented her flying home. People came together to help pay for the life-saving operation.
Cherry-Lee, her husband Byron and their 3-month-old were in the UK to introduce the family to their new bundle of joy. The trip was set to be an exciting one with lots of family time on the cards. However, Cherry-Lee started having health complications.
“Last week Thursday (7th June 2018) we received the news no-one should ever have to get…
“You have a brain tumour”…
Especially 3 months after giving birth to their first-born child. Cherry-lee, my fit healthy wife, just 31 years old, shortly after landing in London had multiple seizures whilst on a trip to introduce our baby Noah to the family in the UK.”
“Cherry-lee stopped breathing after the seizures and was resuscitated and rushed to hospital.
After multiple scans and MRIs we were told that she had a 5cm Glioma in the front left lobe of her brain (Yes… a brain tumour).”
Medical assessments were done and doctors in both the UK and South Africa were consulted on how to proceed. All the doctors on the case agreed, it was not safe for Cherry-Lee to fly home for treatment. The long-haul flight could cause a number of health complications all of which were considered high-risk.
The best course of treatment was to operate in the UK. The hospital was happy to do the surgery as long as the family paid the full cost upfront. Thier medical aid, however, had different ideas, even with multiple doctors recommendations…
“At present, our medical aid back home is only willing to cover a portion of the medical bills here in the UK as they feel she is fit to fly back home (also it is cheaper in South Africa to perform the procedure, so they would rather her have it done there)…
Again, due to the risk of haemorrhaging and cardiac arrest on a long-haul flight… we can’t afford to take that risk of flying and have to have treatment here in the UK.”
Pressed for time, Byron set up a crowdfund page to help raise the shortfall in money for the operation. In just 4 days, they managed to raise enough money for Cherry-Lee to have the surgery in the UK.
We have decided to try raise R250,000 – R400,000 to cover the shortfall for the procedure which our medical aid won’t cover at this stage.
There is an upfront payment in full required by the hospital before the procedure next week Wednesday 20 June 2018 in which we are hoping they will successfully remove the tumour.
Today is surgery day and Byron has been blown away by the help his family has received from strangers on the internet. The operation will be taking place at 18:00 South African time. Byron shared his thanks with everyone involved in helping his wife get this life-saving surgery.
Dear everyone, you are our guardian angels and we thank you! We have reached our fundraising goal and are covered for surgery as well as have additional funds for post-op cover to an extent I guess.
All we can say is thank you for taking this stress off our shoulders as we prepare for Cherry’s surgery this Wednesday at 17:00 UK time (18:00 SA time).
The shares, likes, comments, private messages, fundraisers, large contributions, small contributions, accommodation offers, even clothes for baby Noah…. just everything. We are humbled and Cherry feels so loved.
We will beat this.
Thank from the bottom of our hearts and we don’t know how we will ever repay you. But will personally thank every single one of you. People say this is the power of ‘social media’… but it is simply the power of people.
I will do an update as soon as possible after Chez’s op. Again we can’t say thank you enough.
All our love Byz, Chez & baby Noah
We wish the Bekker family all the strength they need on this day and through recovery. Your family is in our thoughts!
by 