Sunninghill Recovery Lodge steps in
Sunninghill Recovery Lodge steps in to help a resident who was involved in an accident and spent almost a year in ICU without making any positive steps towards his recovery.
Sunninghill Recovery Lodge has come to the aid of a patient who spent almost 300 days in ICU and had nowhere to continue his recovery.
After being involved in a road accident, Sunninghill resident Silvino Freitas spent close to a year in Charlotte Maxeke Hospital. Freitas was an active cyclist and businessman but this changed on 7 September 2022. From that moment, he became a vulnerable patient who endured untold horrors and was subjected to unnecessary complications and infections while being treated at public hospitals as he had no medical aid.
Due to load-shedding and apparent poor administration, Freitas did not receive much-needed surgery timeously and contracted sepsis instead. Months of alleged neglect at the very hands of those who were supposed to care for him led to further complications such as his colon being removed and has now been fitted with a colostomy bag. He has lost his ability to swallow and receives feeding through a PEG (feeding tube). He is weak and frail and has to learn to walk again.
The Sunninghill Recovery Lodge decided to step in on a pro-bono basis and help with his rehabilitation and recovery. According to Ann-Magret McKerrel, founder and leader of the Sunninghill Recovery Lodge team, Freitas’ situation was ‘close to home’ as he and his family have been living in the community and the accident also happened only a few metres from the lodge.
“We have partnered with Stewart Physiotherapy which will give him a chance to walk again, we also have a range of support teams that stands like an army around him to uplift him and his family. We understand we may not be able to make his journey a happy one but we know we can bring hope and make it look beautiful,” said McKerrel.
The lodge was started after McKerrell realised that there was nowhere for people to go to recover and receive end-of-life care that was not clinical or institutional. “We developed this concept during Covid-19 but it also coincided with my own dad needing care. We understood that to recover from illness or surgery, you need carers that treat you with dignity and kindness in a beautiful environment.
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