Support Sarnia resident’s fundraising drive to purchase prosthetic leg

SARNIA resident, Schalk ‘Kallie’ Blignaut, suffered a life-changing ordeal when he was attacked and thrown through his lounge window during a home invasion last year. His friend, Tina Buchanan is raising funds to help him get a prosthetic leg.

Blignaut (30) broke his left heel and both his bones on his right leg with one of the bones penetrating the skin.

He was rushed to a government hospital as he was unfortunately not on a medical aid at the time of the horrific incident.

Buchanan said Blignaut was left with an open wound which bled for days before being attended to.

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“When the time finally came for an operation to be done to treat his leg, infection had already set in and the operation had to be delayed.”

“Due to the inadequacy of surgeons and doctors at the hospital the operation was unsuccessful. During his time in recovery some money became available and an operation at a private hospital was made possible,” explained Blignaut.

By this time extensive damage was done to the bones, ligaments and muscles as the infection was at its worst.

The doctor fought tirelessly to try and save and repair what they could in order for Blignaut to lead somewhat of a normal life again.

“After many months of having his leg in casts and a ring fixator as well as an infection draining machine, we sought the opinion of one of the top orthopedic doctors in Durban to get a final opinion on if his leg could ever be the same again and if he would ever be able to lead a normal life with the condition his leg was in,” added Buchanan.

Buchanan said they were told that Blignaut’s leg was already 12cm shorter than the other, the tibia bones where dying and the possibility of them ever fusing together was highly unlikely.

What’s more his ankle bones had fused into a downward position.

“This doctor gave us the news we expected. Two options, ring fixator for a further two years with no guarantee of it working or being able to repair this type of damage or below the knee amputation,” said Buchanan.

She said this was a tough decision for Blignaut to make.

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“Imagine being only 30 years old and boom, you have your mobility snatched from you, your freedom, your livelihood. Through some of my friends, I came across a gentleman, Chris Hearn, who is the same age as Blignaut and had already had his leg amputated,” said Buchanan.

Hearn chose to disable himself after crushing his ankle in a motorbike accident and often speaks about amputation to help motivate others about their disability.

Hearn ranked third in South Africa for BMX a mere 18 months after his amputation.

This conversation put Blignaut’s mind at rest and he was ready for this next step in his life with a positive mindset.

“He did not want to continue life with crutches and operation after operation with possibly no end in sight. Amputation was his decision. Exactly one year and one day from the time of the home invasion, his surgery was a success. His pains were gone and his future was ahead of him, he was positive to the max. There was only one more hurdle insight. A prosthetic leg,” explained Buchanan.

Unfortunately with the Covid-19 pandemic there are huge delays in processing and manufacturing any prosthesis and the prosthesis on offer are far from adequate for any person.

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Buchanan was able to obtain quotes from many private prosthetists ranging from R65 000 to R120 000.

“Again my friend was blessed by Hearn who took him to his prosthetist, Darryl Grobbelaar who agreed to assist Blignaut and sell him a R100 000 prosthetic leg for only R50 000, the cheapest quote to date and for a decent leg. Receiving an offer like this was a true blessing and something I felt he could not pass up,” said Buchanan.

Blignaut is still unable to go back to work as a boilermaker or welder due to employee constraints from this Covid-19 lockdown scenario, thus cannot earn any money to save towards his leg.

Buchanan has created a BackaBuddy campaign for Kallie https://www.backabuddy.co.za/schalk-blignaut2020 and to date they have managed to raise R15 000 just over a quarter of the way to their goal.

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