85 year old
Martie van Staden had just one wish: to look at the ocean again. Martie used to
live in Amanzimtoti and loved visiting the beach. But an unsuccessful back
operation confined her to her bed. Frail and in need of constant care, Martie
had no choice nine years ago, but to move to the Flame Lily Park care home in
Queensburgh.
For nine
years Martie longed to look at the waves and smell the fresh sea breeze – but
frail and bedridden, she wasn’t even able to go outdoors.
Determined
to fulfil her mum’s wish, Martie’s daughter, Magda Snowdon, got in touch with
East Coast Radio’s Damon Beard. “It’s
nothing fancy,” Magda told Damon on-air during The Big Favour on Tuesday, 12 May 2015. “She just wants to go and
look at the sea and go back again to the home”
Damon roped
in Netcare 911 to help make Martie’s dream come true. This morning (14 May
2015, the Netcare 911 team fetched Martie from the care home and took her to
‘Toti Beach in an ambulance. There Martie was served tea on the sand as she
spent some time looking out at sea.
“This is
something most of us take for granted every single day,” says Damon. “I’m so
grateful to have been able to make her life-changing dream come true.”
Pics by Netcare 911 and ECR
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