Desperate plea for wheelchair
"I am home bound and I cannot go anywhere, I spend most of time sitting on my bed."
STUCK at home, barely able to move and in constant pain, Roberta Dwyer is desperately seeking help. The Flamingo Court resident says she has been waiting to undergo surgery for a hip replacement since 2010.
Her problems stated back in 1998 when she slipped and fell at work and injured her back. She had to undergo neck and back surgery, but since then, the brackets used in the surgery on her back loosened and subsequently affected her hip which she was told would have to be replaced.
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When her husband passed away in 2005, matters worsened and her health deteriorated. “Unfortunately, when I went for a check up at the hospital I was told that they cannot operate on my hip. Since then, my legs have become painful and are sore all the time. I cannot walk properly,”said Dwyer.
“I am home bound and I cannot go anywhere. I spend most of my time sitting on my bed. I do not have any source of income. I depend on my social grant which has to pay for my medication, rent, food and electricity. I begging for someone to please help me and donate a wheelchair or assist me with medication. I just want to be able to go to the shops and do things like normal people do. The doctors say I need to exercise but in the state I am in, I cannot do anything. My friend has to help me when I have to bath,” she said.
Family friend Tone Kjeldsen said: “She cannot walk or do normal things that we take for granted. I try to help her exercise but I see the pain in her eyes every time we try to go for a walk. I just want her to go back to her old usual self. Seeing her health deteriorating like this is just painful, she has to do the hip replacement operation before it is too late. She also needs to eat wholesome food to supplement the medicine. I hope and pray that she gets the help that she needs. Her current husband is also epileptic and every time he suffers an epileptic fit, she cannot do anything because of her weak legs.”
“When I want to cook I have to sit down. Every night I have to wake my husband up to rub my legs because they are in pain. I now have to balance on the furniture to stand up. The grant money is also not enough, I only use my medication when I am in pain,” said Dwyer.
For those wishing to help, contact her on 084 033 9996 or Tone Kjeldsen on 065 815 4445.
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