Henru
Grobbelaar was born on
the 2nd of June 2000 as the youngest of 4 children. His mother left
met on the 8th of December 2000 and she, together with the new love
of her life and the four children were involved in a motor vehicle accident on
the 23rd of February 2001. Henru was not secured in a safety chair
but was sitting on his mother’s lap at the time of impact and hit his head
against the dashboard. This left him unconscious and he did not breath for an
unknown time until the first person stopped at the scene. She was a theatre
sister from Durban, Jenny Beere, who helped Henru to breath again. The next
person to stop at the scene was a medical doctor. They took care of Henru until
the Paramedics arrived and Henru was airlifted to Milpark Hospitaal where he
was treated. On Sunday, the 25th of February 2001, Henru’s heart
stopped 5 times. They could resuscitate him and he survived. The pressure on
his brain was very high and nothing could be done except wait, pray and see
what would happen.
Henru survived this trauma, but as a result he sustained major brain damage and today he is a spastic cerebral handicapped quadriplegic with cortical blindness and suffers from uncontrollable epilepsy and has to take medication on a daily basis. He cannot use his hands, eat on his own (he has to be spoon-fed) and still drinks from a baby bottle. He cannot change position on his own and is totally dependent from a caregiver. Since the day of the accident I was with him in hospital and is taking care of him since his discharge. During the day when I am at work I do have a caretaker who is taking care of him. I am at work from 07:00 until 16:30 when I take over from the caretaker from 16:30 until 07:00 the next morning as well as every weekend.
Financially I cannot cope any more and therefore we are trying to raise some funds. Any contributions will be welcomed and appreciated for future expenditures or other needs for Henru, like nappies, baby bottles, wet wipes. Henru also had a back operation on the 20thof September 2012 at a cost of R330 000 and this will not be his last operation. During April 2011 he had operations on both his hips to keep his hips in position with plates and screws and this has to be removed at some stage again because Henru is still growing and these metal components do not grow with him.
I really do not want to badmouth his mother and without any prejudice, but she is not contributing towards his care. SOME TIMES it do happen that she will buy him some T-shirts and some hand towels which I use as a bib when I am feeding him, but with regards to medication, nappies, wet wipes, his soya milk, food, transport to doctors and hospitals, assistance after operations – nothing. As an example, I had to sell my house in Harrismith and move to Pretoria where I have to rent a house now and my house in Harrismith would have been paid in full by the end of the year. I had to sacrifice my capped leave, take my annual leave and sick leave, even unpaid leave after Henru had operations to take care of him until such time that the caretaker could take care of him again.
For any enquiries or additional information, please feel free to contact me, his father, Hendrik Grobbelaar, at ha.grobbelaar@gmail.com or (01127) 82 572 9187.
Any contributions can be deposited into Henru’s bank account. Please also supply your cell phone number as reference or send an e-mail or sms to prevent any accusations of corruption or maladministration.
Thak you in advance.
Bank details: HA Grobbelaar ID: 000602 5036 08 5
Account number 134 510 119
Branch Number 012645
SWIFT Number SBZAZAJJ
A few days before the accident in his mother's house after she moved out.
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Milpark
Hospital 27 Februariy 2012. (The date on the camera was not correct). Attached
to the life support machines. On top of his head is the brain pressure monitor.
I filmed the pressure metre and at some stage it was as high as 75. He was
hospitalized from 23 February 2001 to 27 March 2001. From 23 February to 20
March in ICU and thereafter in a general ward.
His first
birthday. After this he had meningitis. Notice the fact that he could sit here
on his own with the support of pillows. This was before the “shunt” was inserted
in his head to drain the fluid from his brain. After the insertion of the shunt
he could never did this again.
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His first
hip operation 2004 – bilateral adductor tenotomie (cutting the origin tendons of the adductor muscles
of the thighs.)
After the bilateral adductor tenotomie were done
he starts pulling his legs up like a frog because he could not straighten his
legs on his own after pulling it up in this position.
Also notice the condition of the hands and
how it deteriorates later on.
Also the result of bilateral adductor
tenotomie.
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The first operation on the hip itself as a result of dysplastic hip with a shallow socket and unstable femoral head. A “roof” was build in the socket to keep the femoral head in position to prevent further hip dysplasia. Also notice the deterioration of the hands.
This was placed into Henru’s hip during the operation and removed again after 2 years.
The scars wounds of the operation after the “spika”
was removed.
This muscle was stretched during the operation as well
to prevent the contractures causing muscle spasms.
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Henru suffered an epileptic seizure and went into as
spasm, causing the femur to break just above the knee.
oooOOOooo
During the
second operation on both his hips this pins, screws and plates was inserted to
keep his hips in position. This time he was not again supported by a
”spika” and it was very difficult to handle him. It was hell to see him crying and screaming from
the pain and he had suffered severe spasms as well. The only thing I could do, was to give him
some prescribed medication and keep him semi-sedated to calm him down to enable
him to handle the pain until it became bearable again for him to be handled. This stuff must be removed again at some
stage…
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Different helping aids used for Henru over time.
A Standing “bed”made for Henru by Mr Tjol Nel from Bethlehem to enable Henru to stand for short times.
A
chair in which he could also sit just to put him in different positions to help
with posture development
His “post box” standing frame
His custom made wheel chair to support the scoliosis and this insert had to be replaced every 6 months as he grows.
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