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Mother faces mountain of medical bills for wheelchair-bound son

Mother faces mountain of medical bills for wheelchair-bound son

Date: 2014-08-29
Two Durban brothers who have a rare muscle disorder have beaten all the odds, living years longer than medical science predicted.

Clerrade Sigamoney, 22, and Tyronne Sigamoney, 24, have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and are now confined to wheelchairs.

"The disorder, which affects males, is progressive and turns muscle into fibre. It affects all the muscle and the last muscle it affects is the heart," said their mother, Claudette.

"People with the condition have a limited lifespan until 12-15 years old and my sons have lived beyond that, which is a miracle."

Clerrade stopped walking when he was 13 and Tyronne when he was 10.

Despite their condition and being confined to wheelchairs, the brothers have held down jobs, Clerrade as a graphic designer and Tyronne as a lawyer.

But then in January, things took a turn for the worst for Tyronne when he was placed on a ventilator after suffering respiratory failure. He was admitted to an intensive care ward at Westville Life Hospital and was in a coma for a week.

"He remained in ICU for two months under the care of his physician Dr Nischal Gathiram. I felt that God had given him another chance to life and me another opportunity to embrace him with unconditional love, and cherish and treasure every day with him as best as possible," his mother said.

Her son is now on a home ventilator to help him breath and stay alive.

A single parent, she is now faced with a mountain of bills as her medical aid has not paid for Tyronne's hospitalisation in ICU, most of his X-rays, blood tests, physiotherapy and other costs. She eventually plans to take legal action against the medical fund.

A labour lawyer, she had to take six months off work during what she said was "the worst of times."

Her son, who can no longer work himself, has to have a full-time care giver to help him bath, change and to feed him.

On top of the R200 000 his mother still owes the hospital, she also faces monthly bills totaling R50 000 for the home ventilator, the consumables for his life-saving tracheotomy and other medical requirements and weekly physiotherapy.

Dr Gathiram has not billed her at all "dedicating his time, selfless medical care and working beyond his call of duty as a doctor," Tyronne's mother said.

"He has also encouraged, motivated, inspired and made Tyronne believe that being placed on a ventilator is challenging, but it's no obstacle. Dr Gathiram's motto to Tyronne is to embrace and enjoy every day and live his best life daily as life is too short."

And Tyronne has risen to the challenge, embracing life to the fullest. He is now studying for his masters.

Now, because of the enormous medical bills, his mother is organising a fund-raising event to firstly clear the hospital debt and then help meet the other ongoing costs.

She is the board of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is chairman of the organisation's small-and-medium enterprise portfolio, and the fund-raiser, which will also create awareness about the disease, will be hosted by the chamber together with On Live TV. The event will be held at the chamber's new offices at the Lion Match Office Park, at 892 Umgeni Road, on Friday, August 29. Tickets cost R500 a couple and are available from Tyronne's mother on 084 337 7762.