A rare outing to the local shopping centre led to a fortuitous encounter for Akwande Tlou and his family. Akwande is never keen to go outside. That is because the 11-year-old boy suffers from a Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease or Lobstein syndrome. It is a congenital bone disorder characterised by brittle bones that are prone to fracturing. OI may also present with shorter height, neurological features including communicating hydrocephalus, basilar invagination, and seizures, blue sclerae, hearing loss, or other complications. The fractures themselves can cause acute or chronic pain, reduced quality of life, and depression. People with OI are born with defective connective tissue, or without the ability to make it, usually because of a deficiency of type I collagen.
Going to the shopping centre with his mom Andile, they met Quinton Quait who was not supposed to be in the store that day. His wife Helen had banned the family from eating potato chips but Quinton decided to sneak one packet without his wife’s knowledge. Before finding the chips, he met Akwande in his wheelchair and at first Quinton thought he had broken his arm in a fall from a tree.
Quinton had been looking to donate his mother’s electric wheelchair since she passed away in December. Together with the Red Shirts and Lions Krugersdorp, he had been looking for a worthy recipient of the wheelchair.
“I wanted to give the chair to someone who would use it for many more years to come. This coincidental meeting clearly proves to me that this chair was waiting just for Akwande,” he said.
According to his mother Andile, Akwande was born with the syndrome as well as a club foot, a broken thigh bone and under-developed ribs.
“He’s had operations since he was four months old to try and help him live a normal life. Sometimes its hard, because if he stretches, he could break his bones. But he has never let anything get him down. He understands his situation and has chosen to make the best of it. It is just a blessing to have met the Quait family. They have made us very happy,” she said.
The wheelchair, previously owned by Granny Betty, who lived in Friendship Haven in Randfontein, had a special name in the Quait family.
“The wheelchair was named Granny Betty’s Ferrari, so we have to ensure Akwande abides by the school’s speed limits and that he’s careful not to run over his fellow pupils. He will be able to maneouver with little help and help himself as much as he can. His old wheelchair was also taken in for repairs and looks brand new,” he said.
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