Little Ruan van Loggenberg (3) had a near drowning experience on June 5, 2012. Now a recovered and healthy family hopes to help Nathan O’Grady, a boy who was not so lucky, also suffering from a drowning experience.
Ruan managed to squeeze through a tiny opening at the bottom of a lapa sail, which protects against wind, following the family dogs at his grandparents’ house in General Albertspark. He fell into the pool and was quickly pulled to dry ground when his grandmother found him floating face down.
Today, through a lot of physiotherapy and speech therapy, Ruan is a healthy, energetic little boy who is like a fish in the water and definitely not afraid of it.
Sadly Ruan’s friend, Nathan O’Grady, a boy who was also at Garden City hospital at the time of the drowning, suffered serious injuries, as he was suspected to have drowned for a longer period than Ruan.
Although Nathan is strong, alive and still has a lust for life, he has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy after being admitted to the Garden City Hospital, Auckland Park Netcare rehab centre, and is currently at home with a caregiver.
His treatments have cost the family thousands, if not millions of rands to try and get him back to being a normal little boy.
Nathan will start with ABR therapy at the end of April, and for this his parents need to raise R60 000. ABR therapy shows that a purely biomechanical method allows achieving complete structural overhaul of a brain-injured child’s body (elimination of spasticity and deformities, normalisation of muscular balance etc) and spontaneous restoration of motor functions, even without the actual “repair” of the brain damage.
The Loggenberg family are pleading with community members to help little Nathan get back his life and lead a normal one just like Ruan will.
Find out more about both Ruan and Nathan’s journey on Drowning and Near Drowning Support Facebook Page.
If you are willing to help improve a young boy’s life, you can make a donation to his trust account:
Nathan – J Trust
Nedbank
Account number: 1068375647
Branch code: 10550500
Cheques account
