Help buy wheelchair

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A fundraising project is under way to assist in buying a wheelchair for a boy with special needs.

Antoni van Reenen suffered a shortage of oxygen at birth and this led to cerebral damage and with it, other difficult conditions including having a pipe in his throat in order to breath, problems with eating and epilepsy.

Currently, Antoni (10) has a special needs pram, but he is growing fast and a seating specialist has said he should be in a wheelchair as soon as possible, otherwise he will have back and spine problems.

Antoni's grandmother lives in Mossel Bay and he, his mom and dad and sister will be moving to Mossel Bay soon. They live in Cape Town currently.

Antoni's mom, Marili van Reenen, told the Mossel Bay Advertiser this week: "We are looking forward to moving to Mossel Bay."

She said Antoni's grandmother - her mother-in-law - had told her what a caring community there was in Mossel Bay.

Right now there is a project to collect plastic bread clips and bottle tops to raise money for a wheelchair for Antoni. The drop-off point for these plastics is Kodak Express DigitalSolutions at the Mosselbaai Mall in Heiderand. About 200kg of these is necessary to pay for the wheelchair, which costs R25 000.

Marili takes care of Antoni full time at home and the care required is intensive because he is severely challenged due to the cerebral damage.

A notice was distributed on WhatsApp groups this week in Mossel Bay, urging people to support Antoni and bring their plastic milk or cooldrink bottle tops to Kodak in Heiderand.

If you are able to help Antoni in any other way, contact Marili (078 782 6924). The family are on a hospital plan only and Antoni requires neurophysiotherapy and a special diet.

Antoni van Reenen