Durban — Grandparents Colin, 71, and Margie Jones, 69, from Hillcrest, west of Durban, started crowdfunding to give for their grandson, who is suffering from a rare genetic condition, a new lease on life.
They have dedicated most of their lives to caring for their grandson, Kyle Skidmore, 29, who lives with a rare condition he inherited.
When Skidmore was 12, he was diagnosed with Fanconi aplastic anaemia, a disease that occurs when a patient’s bone marrow stops producing platelets.
Patients living with the condition are prone to infections and uncontrolled bleeding. Doctors told Skidmore that without a stem cell transplant, he would not see his 21st birthday.
“I remember the weight of our worry before Kyle received his stem cell transplant. On the weekdays he would attend school, which he loved. On a Friday afternoon he would visit the haematologist and be admitted to the hospital for the weekend to receive platelets and blood,” Colin said.
In January 2012, Skidmore finally got the call that a donor match was found for him in Germany, and he soon underwent a stem cell transplant at the University of Cape Town Academic Hospital in Cape Town.
After six months, Skidmore was eventually discharged, was able to return home, and completed his matric the following year.
Things were finally looking up for Skidmore. After his transplant, his platelet count steadily improved until it was near normal levels. He had a new lease of life and was living a happy, healthy life.
In December 2021, 10 years after Skidmore’s transplant, he started experiencing complications and his lungs started to deteriorate.
After many tests and scans in June, Skidmore received the devastating news that he has developed pulmonary veno occlusive disease, another rare genetic condition, characterised by a blockage of the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart (the pulmonary veins).
Now, Skidmore is using a home-based non-portable oxygen concentrator, provided by his medical aid, that keeps him sustained. Doctors say that Skidmore’s prognosis is very serious and that he will need to live on oxygen almost 24 hours a day for the rest of his life.
Hoping to give Skidmore a better quality of life and allow him to explore life beyond his home environment ‘for the rest of his years’ his grandparents launched a crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy, to purchase a portable oxygen concentrator suitable for his needs.
Though Skidmore has comprehensive medical aid, a portable oxygen concentrator is not available on his plan.
His grandparents, both pensioners, work to provide for themselves and their disabled grandson, who is unable to work and want nothing more than to give Skidmore the life he deserves.
“Our hearts break for our grandson who watches the world go on without him from his window. All he has ever wanted was to be healthy, to live unencumbered and have the freedom to spend time with his friends and family,” Colin said.
Since launching the crowdfunding campaign, more than R26 900 has been raised towards their fundraising goal of R65 000, with kind contributions from about 20 donors.
The funds raised will be used to purchase the device, an additional battery to compensate for load shedding, as well as inevitable maintenance costs.
Support Skidmore’s campaign on BackaBuddy: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/kyle-skidmore (click on link)
Alternatively, donate via Snapscan: https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/KyleSkidmorePVOD (click on link)
Daily News