An ex-Toti resident, who was diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy (CP) and could not walk a year ago, is now playing rugby.
Duncan Theunissen (6) moved to Germiston with his parents, Corrie and Charlene from Illovo Beach at the end of last year.
“None of the English-speaking schools in Toti would accept Duncan,” said Charlene. He is now in grade 1 in Elsburg Primary School, after having bypassed grade R.
He was initially misdiagnosed with a mild form of CP. Faced with raising R180,000 for an operation, his parents made a plea through the Sun for fundraising ideas.
A Warner Beach GP, who specialises in orthopaedics at King Edward VIII Hospital, saw the article in the Sun and arranged an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon.
The little boy was diagnosed with tight tendons in his groin, at the back of his knee and his feet and underwent an operation at King Edward VIII Hospital last February. Once he recovered, he slowly began building up his leg muscles with the aid of a walker. Exactly a year ago, he took his first steps, unaided.
“Duncan is now walking fine, just with a slight limp,” said Charlene. “He’s very mobile and is all over the place.
Earlier this year he took part in his school’s athletics day and when he ran onto the field recently to play for the U11s, we had tears in our eyes. He is also the team’s mascot. He still dreams of playing basketball and asked his dad for a hoop the other day.”
Duncan is also excelling in his school work. “The school and us were initially reluctant to start him in grade 1 because of him missing grade R, but he scored 80% in Afrikaans and 79% in maths. I was so upset when none of the schools in Toti would accept him and told us he needs to be in a special class with children who suffer from CP. His achievements in school are fantastic and we are so proud of him.”
