Durban mum sells mugs to save son
Billie-Jean Kilian is selling printed mugs to raise funds to take her son Dylan to Cape Town this month to see a cardiologist.
A DURBAN mother has embarked on a fundraising drive to raise money so her son can visit a specialist doctor in Cape Town at the end of the month.
Carrington Heights resident, Billie-Jean Kilian says she and her husband have always done things on their own and are not in favour of taking handouts.
To raise the necessary funds, the determined mum is taking orders for mugs at R100 each on which she has photos printed for customers.
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For every mug printed, she is putting away R40 for medical bills and travel for her two-and-a-half-year-old son, Dylan to get to Cape Town.
Billie-Jean is a type one diabetic and as a result, Dylan was born with complications.
“Dylan was stillborn and it took the doctors a couple of minutes to revive him. He was born with a hole in his heart and was sent straight after birth to neonatal ICU at Parklands Hospital so he could see the cardiologist,” she said.
After many tests, he was diagnosed with a condition that caused his heart to swell.
She said she and her husband, Christo, were told by the doctor that it would take four months for the swelling to subside, but it didn’t.
A year later, they decided they needed a second opinion, as Dylan was suffering from colic and was battling to breathe. Dylan was still not walking, had a drag foot, and was slow in developing.
“We consulted an amazing doctor in Johannesburg who explained from A to Z what was wrong, and said Dylan had a condition called Hypertrophic Obstruction Cardiomyopathy, or HOCM, which is usually only picked up in puberty. It can cause sudden death in puberty as the arteries in the heart block and oxygen isn’t able to get to the heart,” she said.
She said they were told that there was only one doctor in Cape Town who studies HOCM.
She sent the report to her doctor in Durban, who said there was no more he could do for Dylan. The couple was devastated and determined to do something to save their son.
“In February I got hold of the doctor in Cape Town who agreed to see Dylan. He said there had only been two cases of infant HOCM in South Africa and he would need to see Dylan to confirm he has the condition. At this stage we don’t really know anything until we see him,” she said.
“We had to upgrade our medical aid so we could get the best care for Dylan, and we have a lot of money to raise for the consultation, medical tests and for our transport to Cape Town, so I have been sharing on Facebook to encourage people to order mugs so we can make the extra money,” she said.
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If anyone is interested in ordering a mug or two, Billie-Jean is running a special at one mug for R100 or three mugs for R80 each. She will deliver within Durban central or an extra R40 for other areas.
Contact Billie-Jean on 061 383 6128, billiejean.fleming@yahoo.com, visit: www.customizedmugskzn or visit her Facebook page: Customized printing KZN.
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