He and his trusty friend Tripod, a three-legged Border Collie, arrived in Mossel Bay on Monday, 11 February. Under normal circumstances, this would be nothing newsworthy, but these two did it in a completely unique fashion, as Tripod, the disabled Border Collie was pushed most of the way in a wheelchair, whilst Marne walked all the way from Cape Town.
Marne said, "After a major car accident, I suffered from chronic depression and was advised to get a pet. I adopted a Pug from the SPCA, which I took for walks and eventually, as my recovery progressed, started running.
"However, being such a small breed, the Pug was not always able to keep up, so I bought a wheelchair so that he could still be a part of my routine. He unfortunately passed away and I swore I would not ever get involved with another animal, as it broke my heart."
Little did he know that one day he would befriend a Border Collie.
"Tripod was involved in an incident with another dog and came over to me for protection and never since has left my side," said Marne. "This is when I realised that we were going to be together for a long time.
"In the incident with the other dog, Tripd injured a leg. We decided that the best course of action would be to amputate the leg, as there was no way that it would ever heal. The veterinarian said he would learn to overcome the impairment."
Marne then started with rehabilitating Tripod and took him along for his daily runs, pushing Tripod in the wheelchair until one day he stopped, Tripod jumped out and started to run alongside him.
This touching story does not end there, as Marne also has a slight impairment and the walk was embarked upon not only for the sake of abused animals, but also for those living with disabilities.
Marne has a goal to rehabilitate more dogs and to establish a home for them with people with disabilities, as, in his own words, he said, "Animals have a way of breathing life into people who are in situations where depression and anxiety are a result of difficult situations; these animals share the same background of rejection and abuse and therefore, the fact that they can unconditionally love and trust a new owner is testimony to disabled people that they can achieve a form of normality, even if rejected by others."
The walk is called "Wheelchair run -walk Cape Town to Pretoria" and on the way, Marne is hoping to be given permission to take part in the OCC in George, which will be a first for this race.
The "Independent Physically Disabled Trust" fund has been established and anyone interested in assisting in any way, may contact Marne van den Heever on 082 742 5000.
Tripod, the three-legged Border Collie and owner Marne van den Heever visited Mossel Bay this week. Photo: Sean Snyman
