Help Duncan Vermeulen soldier on

Little Duncan Vermeulen is at the tipping point.

On November 20, he will undergo a massive operation of 12 hours in theatre, during which his legs will be rotated.

Before that, over R100 000 more is needed.

The Vermeulen family and founders of the Shalom Help Fund are appealing to the community to once again open their hearts for this brave fighter.

“We are desperate for funds now,” said a distraught Louise Vermeulen.

Duncan’s story is one of perseverance and faith, beginning on July 26, 2005, when a child weighing just 900 grams was born at 25 weeks.

He was connected to respiratory equipment for his first few weeks of life.

A severe infection meant Duncan and his family were rushed to Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, where he was given a 40 per cent chance of survival.

“Days and weeks went by, and I lived at his bedside in a chair,” Mrs Vermeulen explained.

After a month on a ventilator, the presiding doctor said Duncan showed no response, and the ventilator would thus be turned off on the Monday.

Heartbroken, the Vermeulen family prayed together.

With the family saying their farewells the night before, Louise and her husband were called into Duncan’s room on the Monday morning.

“From the door, you could see his bed and the machines. When we arrived, the ventilator was gone and I collapsed, but the doctor told us we had to look.”

During the night, by a miracle, Duncan had started breathing on his own.

Then, when he was almost two years old, the Vermeulen family noticed the child could not sit or crawl, and they visited the doctor for advice.

He informed them Duncan had suffered irreparable brain damage.

The family could not afford the thousands of Rand charged by specialists, yet the story of Duncan Vermeulen spread through the community of Utrecht and Newcastle.

Police official, Lourens Combrink would later meet with the family.

“He told us we must go for the consultation as the cost had been covered. Duncan was four when we met the doctor, who told us the operations were expensive.”

Quotations for operations totalling R219 000 were given to Lourens, who established the Shalom Trust and began raising funds for the procedures.

To date, the Trust has paid for six operations.

“All money goes to the fund and not to our family,” Louise added. “It pays for doctors’ fees and hospital bills.”

Details of the Trust are as follows: The Shalom Help Fund, Standard Bank, Branch Code: 057724, Account Number: 061938238.

For details or to get involved, contact Lourens on 082 856 8756.

“Thank you for all the contributions and support, it is truly appreciated.”