The story of the van Onselen family is tragic but also inspiring and uplifting.
It is a story that fills you with tears, but you also feel grateful for everything in your life.
On May 14, 2017, a family went from celebrating Mother’s Day to praying that a mother and her eldest daughter would survive after a serious accident.
The lives of James, Pippa, Bella, Maggie and Lizzy van Onselen changed forever.
The accident
The family had a Mother’s Day lunch at home with James’s parents before leaving to drop their eldest daughter, Bella, off at a friend’s house.
“My one sister’s wedding was three months away, so we took photos during the lunch which we could use as count down photos for her wedding. We then left to drop Bella off. James and I had our seatbelts on, but the girls did not,” said the mother, Pippa.
The family vehicle, while travelling in a rural village of Botswana, was hit by another vehicle whose driver was unlicensed, slightly intoxicated and had admitted to having been looking at his cellphone when the accident occurred.
Their car flipped over twice and ended on the side of the road and placed three of the five family members in ICU.
Bella flew through one of the back windows about 40m away. Maggie also got thrown out of the car and Lizzy woke up on the side of the road, laying on the yellow lane.
“I remember hearing my dad calling my name,” said Lizzy.
Lizzy and James were not injured.
Pippa does not remember much of the accident but according to witnesses, she spoke to paramedics and knew what happened while they were treating her on scene.
All of them were taken to a nearby hospital and for the next nine weeks, James travelled between hospitals as the children and their mother were split up to be given the best possible care and a chance at survival.
Accident injuries
Maggie, aged nine at the time, suffered a fractured jaw, which was operated on, and a fractured knee. She was released one week later.
Bella, 11 then, was fighting for her life with severe brain trauma, a punctured lung, broken femur and bleeding on the brain. The bleeding on the brain stopped and started to clear but then water developed and had to be drained.
Although Bella’s eyes were open, she did not respond to any stimuli.
Her head was completely locked in a sideways position, her shoulders, elbows and wrists were frozen, with her right leg completely stiff with very little movement.
After three months of intensive rehabilitation, her physical movement was slowly becoming more flexible.
“After one of Bella’s sessions in the gym, on arriving back in her room, she started crying and miraculously responded for the first time,” Pippa told the RECORD.
“This was the turning point in Bella’s mental rehabilitation and today she talks slowly but can communicate with an extensive vocabulary.
“When she was stable, her femur was operated on, which has left her with a slightly shorter right leg. She was in ICU and high care for nine weeks before being moved to a rehabilitation centre in Johannesburg,” said Pippa.
Pippa has a severe spinal injury that has left her paralysed, affecting her breathing. She underwent an eight-hour operation on her spine and after 11 weeks in hospital started breathing on her own and was stable. She was also moved to the rehabilitation centre where Bella was.
Bella’s story
Bella had died on the accident scene before paramedics resuscitated her. Even though Bella sustained severe brain damage, it is a miracle she is walking and talking.
Bella told the RECORD she went to heaven.
“I went to heaven and I saw my grandmother who I have never met. I also saw Jesus. Everything was so beautiful and sparkling, Jesus told me it is not my time and I still have things to do on earth and I woke up,” said Bella.
A year later Bella shared her story with her family and they were shocked.
“My grandpa asked me if the woman was old or young and he showed me photos of her and the one which I recognised was the one of her when she was young. She was so beautiful,” said Bella.
When asked what she was thankful for, Bella replied, “Oh, where do I start? I am thankful to be alive and I am thankful for life. I still don’t know what my purpose is, but I am definitely on the road to discovering it.”
According to Pippa, Bella’s short-term cognitive memory still fails her at times but her long-term memory recall is normal. She is extremely observant and has a sense of humour.
Pippa’s story
The accident left Pippa paralysed.
Her journey is filled with pain, but also with hope and blessings.
After a lengthy two-and-a-half months in intensive care, followed by three months of in-patient rehabilitation and divorce, the family of four was left to adapt to the new “normal” lifestyle.
In December 2018, Pippa chose to relocate to Alberton from Gaborone in Botswana because of the medical facilities they needed for rehabilitation for Bella and Pippa.
Maggie and Lizzy, with Pippa’s mother, Heather Colby, are overcoming daily challenges.
For a mother to be paralysed and still having to raise three daughters is challenging, but Pippa makes it look so easy.
She is just going on with her life and is living for her girls.
“They are what keeps me alive and what keeps me going. I am their mother and even with my disability I want to raise them in the best way possible with all the challenges,” she said.
Pippa is unemployed, but she is enrolling in a life coaching course.
“I want to change the lives of others and also learn things, which can help me in my situation.”
She started sharing videos on YouTube, which are called A piece of Pippa.
“The purpose behind the videos is to share my reality, but also to show the world you can carry on and you should just look around to see all your blessings,” she explained.
Pippa posts videos about certain topics weekly where she motivates and shares messages from the Bible or something she read, which spoke to her.
Pippa still runs her household, only this time with a little bit of help.
When you meet Pippa, all you can see and feel is power and positivity.
“I am blessed. I was able to walk for 36 years and I lived my life,” she said
The verse Pippa lives by is Jeremiah 29:11, which reads: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Still on the road to recovery
Medically, both Pippa and Bella have defied the original diagnoses.
Maggie and Lizzy have been traumatised by this life-changing event the family had to endure as they have had to adjust to the new ‘normal’, including James and Pippa getting divorced. Four years after the accident, both Pippa and Bella are showing amazing progress.
Their physiotherapy, occupational therapy, doctor’s and hospital visits for other procedures keep both of them busy.
How you can help
The family has been supported financially by friends, family and anonymous angels in order to pay their rent in Mayberry Park, buy groceries, pay medical bills and school fees.
“We are grateful for the trust fund, which helps to pay some of our medical bills.”
Residents who would like to support the family financially can do it via their BackaBuddy page.
To follow up on their lives and progress, follow them on their Facebook page, The van Onselen Family.
Also watch Pippa’s videos on her YouTube channel.
