Ward councillor thanks community after health scare

The start of the new year was a nerve-wracking time for a prominent figure in the Fourways and Randburg community.

Ward 115 councillor Mark van der Merwe spoke about his time of healing from a recent health scare he experienced, and thanked the community for their prayers expressed, support and kind words during his ordeal.
It had started on the weekend of 20/21 January, when he realised he had missed two meetings which he confessed is something that he has never done. On the 22nd, a lifelong friend, who is based in Thailand, called him. “According to my friend, I was making no sense at all,” he said.

When Van der Merwe’s wife returned from work at 17:00 the same day, he said she found him sleeping on the couch where he stayed for the rest of the evening. She tried to get him to get up and to bed but he refused and said it was too hot and wanted to sleep on the couch. His wife checked on him every hour between 23:00 and 02:00 and then again at 06:00. It was at 06:00 she found Van der Merwe having a seizure in the empty spare bathroom. An ambulance was called and he was rushed to Sunninghill Hospital. This after several attempts to wake him up and after his son was called to assist and then called an ambulance.

“There were some scares that I may have had a stroke, but a brain MRI came back with two positive results. Firstly, that I had one and secondly that there is no permanent brain damage at all. For which I am eternally grateful. I am suffering short-term memory loss at the moment but that is related to the brain-calming medication I am taking,” he said.
The seizure has been put down to a sepsis seizure, by the doctors in ICU, as he was admitted unconscious with a temperature of 39.6. An average temp in an adult is 36.1 and 37.2 and a critical fever is considered above 38.88 degrees celsius.

“I lay unconscious for three days and eventually came around on Thursday but don’t recall that and then came around properly on Friday. This much to the relief of my family and close friends who had been allowed into the ICU,” he said.
The councillor was discharged from the hospital at midday on February 1, and is up and about on two crutches. He is doing about 20 X 20m steps, which is way ahead of schedule.
“I also did about 30 actual steps the other day but felt it severely the following morning. I have been instructed by all to take it easy,” he said.
“So, whatever I can do from a couch, or what I can do from a heavily padded seat at my deck, I will be doing that. I will also be attending caucus, council or section 79 meetings that are held on-line. However, the medication I am taking literally puts me to sleep so I cannot be very active at all. I have been booked off till March 20.”

During that period councillor Chris Santana, from Ward 106, will officially be standing in for me. In addition, the other councillors from Fourways, as always, are ready to assist where they can to make sure things get done.
The councillor wishes to extend his deepest gratitude to all the ER staff, NetCare Ambulance Services, Night Guard Security, the trauma ICU doctors and nurses, all of the residents and community members and fellow council members for their gifts, well wishes and messages of support during his time of recovery.

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