Judith Xaba is a caring and dedicated mother, who after her two-relatives passed on, took in their orphaned children. Now, Judith is the only breadwinner and sole parent, caring for six orphaned children as well as, her own child. The devoted parent has worked as a domestic helper for Jan and Marthie Zeederberg since 2009.
Ten years ago, Judith broke her leg after slipping at her home. She has since faced numerous challenges and an endless battle of trying to get a knee replacement surgery. The treatment she received for her broken appendage at the time, only worsened her injury. Judith’s leg was not set straight through the recovery process which resulted in it healing incorrectly and left her leg shaped at around a 30-degree angle.
Due to the increased pain and immobility caused by her deteriorating leg, Judith is currently only able to go home to her children once a month. Over the past years, Marthie and Jan have championed Judith’s attempts to try to get her the knee replacement surgery. However, long waiting lists and lack of available beds at various hospitals have prevented Judith from receiving the much-needed knee replacement.
One day while browsing through a local newspaper, Marthie read an article about a replacement surgery, conducted at Midstream Mediclinic in 2018. She contacted them immediately and without any hesitation, 1Midstream agreed to assist in helping Judith get her life-changing knee replacement. Dr. Phillip de Lange, an orthopaedic surgeon and his team at Midstream Mediclinic, immediately agreed to come on board as well.
Judith desperately wants to get her life back so that she can provide for her seven children. After examining Judith’s leg, the doctors at Midstream found that her case is, unfortunately, more complicated than they originally anticipated. Judith will first need to undergo corrective surgery on her leg, once this has healed, she will be eligible for a knee replacement surgery.
Judith’s surgery costs R150 000 in total. Marthie and Jan are contributing a generous R50 000 to the operation. Although the Midstream medical professionals and hospital have agreed to give their time and facilities for free, Judith still requires an additional R100 000 for a specialised knee parenthesis and correction cage.
Operation Healing Hands wrote to Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels (GMA) about Judith after hearing about her story. LottoStar has compassionately offered to donate the remaining R100 000 needed to fund Judith’s surgery. The funding has been donated from the winnings in the LottoStar and Jacaranda FM’s “How lucky can you get” competition, which took place in March 2019.
Judith is going in for her first corrective surgery on Wednesday morning, 29 May 2019.
We are extremely happy that Judith will finally be able to receive her long-awaited surgery and get her life back. We are sending our love and support to Judith, her family and to everyone who helped to make this surgery possible.
