MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Dressed in bright orange, holding signs and messages of encouragement, many people lined the road around The Point on Friday 29 May, all waiting to support a local Mossel Bay girl, Alba Overbeeke (13), who was recently re-diagnosed with leukaemia.

This coincided with the celebration of Slipper Day, an initiative by the Reach for a Dream Foundation, which takes place annually to unite South Africans in support of children battling life-threatening illnesses.

Alba had been in Cape Town for treatment with her mother, Esther Jacobs, the project director of the marine conservation organisation Earth Legacy Foundation, and her father, Raoul Overbeeke, for the last few weeks, and had returned to Mossel Bay for a short time before the next round of treatment in Cape Town started.

The event was organised by Natalie Polly, a close friend of Jacobs'.

Polly rallied the people together to await Alba's return, asking them to wear slippers for Slipper Day.

Alba had first been diagnosed with leukaemia in 2017, and she had recently reached complete remission.

Alba Overbeeke and her mother, Esther Jacobs. Photo: Chelsea Pieterse

Jacobs said, however, Alba had been experiencing leg pain for a few weeks and had gone to Life Bay View Private Hospital for blood tests. They received the news of the relapse on 6 May.

"Alba was very upset, as we all were. She is doing OK at the moment and taking each day as it comes," said Jacobs.

She said Friday's surprise event was amazing. "Alba loved it. She was a little shy about it, but I think she felt so incredibly loved," she said.

Jacobs thanked Polly for organising the surprise for Alba, saying it was extremely special and that Polly had become like family over the years.

Alba returned to Cape Town for treatment yesterday, 4 June, and will be returning to Mossel Bay on Tuesday 16 June. 

The whole group that came out to support Alba Overbeeke on Friday 29 May. Photo: Chelsea Pieterse

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