Help raise funds for Glenwood resident

FOR Glenwood resident, André Pienaar, March 2020 was the start of an incredibly challenging battle for survival.

After having a persistent headache for three days, André’s wife Annatjie and son Roël both noticed André’s health rapidly deteriorating.

André was experiencing impaired motor function and some confusion. André was rushed to hospital where he has remained for the last 13 weeks fighting for his life.

Initially, doctors suspected André was having a stroke, once that was ruled out the suspicions were shifted towards viral encephalitis.

Despite numerous lab tests and scans for viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites or any other ‘weird or uncommon’ disease, all the results came back negative.

Scans would later show that André’s brain clearly had some form of infection and inflammation.

A brain biopsy was performed on a deep brain abscess, frustratingly yielding no insights or diagnosis of what was affecting André.

Family friend, Gill Kemp, said while the doctors were working hard on trying to figure it all out, André’s condition was deteriorating, his speech was impaired, and his right side weakened to the point of paralysis.

Within a matter of days André reached a point of complete paralysis, and he lost his ability to swallow and talk.

At this point, all the effort of the doctors were looking futile to point that his family was told by doctors twice that he was dying, and they should say their goodbyes.

“Clearly André’s incredible will to survive had completely different plans and in defiance of his doctors’ perceptions, Andre miraculously pulled through,” said Gill.

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After fighting so hard to survive, André was hit by another tough blow, and he was infected with the Coronavirus.

“Yet again André refused to give up and beat the odds so heavily stacked against him. André has continued to fight over the last 14 weeks and despite his doctors’ uncertainty regarding what was affecting him, André has started showing amazing signs of recovery,” said Gill.

André has partially regained movement in his body and with the help of physiotherapy he is able to bend his legs, sit up, and stand with aid of a frame and he is able to swallow and eat again.

Cognitively, André is recovering too, he can recognise family, he follows instructions and is trying his best to communicate.

“André’s road to recovery will not be an easy one, but he has shown the determination and willpower so crucial to the process. The rehabilitation required for André to recover is going to be a costly endeavour and something his medical aid is unlikely to cover. With André unable to work, and the small B&B that Annatjie runs being dramatically affected by Covid-19 induced slump in business, there is no conceivable way that his family can afford to pay for the critical rehab,” said Gill.

André has since been moved from Parklands Hospital to the Entabeni Rehabilitation Centre where he has been for almost two weeks.

“André and God have clearly shown that André has far more to achieve on earth. I ask of you to help André see this through by providing any means of support to him and his family in this incredibly tough time,” she said.

A BackaBuddy fundraiser has been started, and she encourages the public to make any donation to the fund.

To support, visit: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/andre-pienaar

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