Kiera Rutherford, a 13-year-old from Hoedspruit in Limpopo, gets her miracle from her angels, LottoStar and the community of Hoedspruit.
The 13-year-old girl was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, a tick-borne disease which is very rare here in South Africa. After being misdiagnosed three times, Kiera, now on stage 3 Lyme Disease, must undergo treatment in Germany. The treatment costs over R800 000.
An angel named Debbie Thomson, wrote a letter to Martin Bester’s Good Morning Angels (GMA) on Jacaranda FM requesting assistance on behalf of Kiera and her father, Ranking Rutherford. In the letter, the angel explained Kiera’s heart-breaking story and how the Hoedspruit community had already raised some funds and needed more to contribute towards Kiera’s treatment.
In just 8 months, Kiera was left wheelchair bound by the severe pain she suffered from the disease. So, far there’s only been 2 to 3 cases of the disease reported here in South Africa with treatment only being available in Germany.
This morning (15th May 2019) on hearing Kiera’s moving story on Jacaranda FM’s GMA show, LottoStar was moved with compassion and committed to contribute the outstanding R120 000 to match the R680 000 that the Hoedspruit community had already raised for the treatment.
LottoStar and Jacaranda FM recently ran a “How lucky can you get” competition in March 2019, where the additional winnings from the competition were donated to GMA to assist with different charity initiatives like this one. Therefore, the R120 000 contributed by LottoStar towards Kiera’s medical treatment, is part of the final contributions from the competition.
Kiera will be flying to Germany on the 15th of May 2019, at 21:00 for her treatment.
We are happy that Kiera will finally receive her miracle treatment, therefore, we send our love and support to her, her family and the community of Hoedspruit.
LottoStar| Jacaranda FM update: 06 June 2019
It’s a miracle!
Keira Rutherford, who is currently undergoing treatment for Lyme Disease in Germany, was finally able to stand up for the first time yesterday, 5 June 2019
“The doctors say the muscles will take a bit longer to heal, but it already looks good. Thank you, Jesus,” wrote the Keira Rutherford Care Fund.
Some of the therapy sessions Keira is undergoing include the detox foot bath, magnetic pulse therapy, blue light therapy and the mito box therapy.
LottoStar| Jacaranda FM update: 07 June 2019
LottoStar received more update on Keira Rutherford's journey to recovery. Debby Thomson, a friend of Keira's father and an angel who wrote a letter to Good Morning Angels (GMA), requesting assistance in raising medical funds for Keira's treatment in Germany, sent us this following communication regarding Keira’s recovery:
“We are all very excited and very happy with Keira’s progress and so happy and so grateful that we were able to send her to Germany for treatment. Thank you so much to you all for your assistance and for helping us to make this possible. The last few weeks have been really tough for Keira and they discovered that her Lyme’s counts were higher than initially expected. So, her road to healing is going to take a little longer than initially proposed, however, her improvement so far is just remarkable. The fact that she can even stand and has taken a few steps – albeit with assistance – is exceptionally exciting and an emotional moment for her.”
“At least now she can see a light at the end of the tunnel. She knows she will walk again.”
“It has become very evident, specifically after our chat on GMA that there is far more Lyme’s in SA than originally thought and that there is a definite need for awareness as well as assistance with resources to help treat it before it gets to the stage that poor Keira has found herself in. We will definitely be assisting Keira’s mother, Lana, in setting up a foundation that can assist with this,” concluded Debby.
LottoStar | Jacaranda FM Good Morning Angels update: 03 July 2019
It was a morning full of joy and laughter when Keira Rutherford and her family visited Jacaranda FM’s studios during the Good Morning Angels show to give feedback on Keira’s recovery.
The 13-year-old Keira was diagnosed with a Lyme disease which left her wheelchair-bound and she had to undergo treatment in Germany. After undergoing the different therapy sessions in Germany, Keira’s response to the treatment was remarkable as she was able to take a few steps on her own as shown in the video above.
Although Keira is still going to physiotherapy, her progress has been immense and she is now able to do the things that a normal 13-year-old should do.
The Rutherford family thanked LottoStar, Jacaranda FM and the community of Hoedspruit for their contributions towards Keira’s treatment.
