Local survivor beat the odds at every turn

Despite doctors believing he wouldn’t make it past the age of two, little Brodie is still fighting.

Brodie Snyman (6) was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, not long after he was born. His father, Shaun Snyman explained his fiancé Louise Steyn went into labour when she was 36 weeks pregnant after her placenta burst. He received the call at 02:00 that morning and rushed to the hospital.

Brodie was stillborn and Louise’s heart stopped during birth. Luckily they were able to resuscitate them both, after which Brodie spent two months in NICU before he was allowed to return home.

“He was fine, he looked like any other child, he nursed fine and everything,” said Shaun.

He continued he was home for a month when they had to rush him to the hospital due to respiration, “That’s where all the heartache started … it was hard.”

The next year they spent divided between their home and the hospital as Brodie was regularly admitted.

Louise was retrenched from her job in 2018, which meant the family needed to survive on Shaun’s income from his wood and steelwork business, however, Covid-19 took a toll on this and now he is having difficulty getting jobs to support the family. Aside from Brodie, the couple also has 10-year-old twins, Kiara and Kayden they need to provide for.

Shaun continued back when Brodie was born and first diagnosed, they still had medical aid, which made the costs involved with Brodie’s medical care bearable, but as time passed it became harder and harder for them to keep it up, and eventually, they couldn’t afford it anymore. This meant they had to take Brodie to government hospitals, however, they did not give him the necessary medicine he needed, which meant they still had to supply many of his needs privately. He added Brodie’s needs can amount to R10 000 a month, which includes his medicine, his nappies, and the food he eats, not to mention other necessities such as his oxygen tank and their generator should the power go out.

After numerous back and forths and many difficulties, they were finally able to get Brodie into Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in May. Even though this means he will finally get the help he needs, this also leaves them with other concerns, including a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) form.

Shaun went on to explain the reason for this is because Brodie’s lungs aren’t that strong and his left lung is even weaker than his right. This means if they do resuscitate, they could damage his lungs even more. His entire airway could collapse.

“It means if he was to be resuscitated there could be more complications. These are all things we have to consider, there would be even more damage than before. It is a big thing to think about and what about his quality of life?” Louise asked.

Shaun added if they do decide to resuscitate him, it would mean more challenges for him to overcome and he already suffers so much.
“I understand you put your child’s life in a doctor’s hands, but now you also have to decide to give permission that if something goes wrong they shouldn’t resuscitate him. I wish that on no parent. I don’t want to lose my child, this child is my life. It is very difficult,” he said with tears in his eyes.

Aside from this possibly life-altering decision the family still has other concerns, such as supplies for when Brodie does go to hospital, including basic necessities and food. Brodie has to be tube-fed and he can’t eat just any food. He has to eat fresh vegetables daily, but only orange vegetables, and due to his immune deficiencies, he has to eat meat every day in addition to taking multiple vitamins and supplements. All these have to be thrown into a blender to fit through the tube. The family stated their blender is also having some issues lately. If Steyn is allowed to stay with him at the hospital she would also need to buy food for herself. They also need money for transport as they do not own a car anymore after it was written off during a car accident.

Further, they have six dogs in their care in need of dog food.

Anyone willing to help the family can contact Shaun on 062 598 4561.