After two days of relentless stomach pain young Okuhle Ramba, from Phillipi in Mitchell’s Plain, was taken to the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital late one Sunday evening. Doctors immediately noted that she was extremely dehydrated. In fact her kidneys were failing and she was also in severe septic shock. She was immediately admitted to the ICU where it took the medical team more than 6 hours to resuscitate her. Finally she was stable enough to undergo an emergency operation and with a surgical team on standby she was ready for an emergency appendicectomy at 4am on Monday morning! After a 45 minute procedure in the operating theatre Okhule went back into ICU for 4 days. Here staff monitored her progress closely and carefully administered doses of adrenalin which helped to support her heart that was very weak due to the major infection caused from her burst appendix.

Thankfully Okhule is now doing much better, and her heart and kidney function have returned to normal. She is taking her antibiotics, eating well and will be discharged within the next few days.

The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital is the only dedicated specialist children’s hospital in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, and as a result, children from all over Africa come to us for help – we treat more than 250 000 patients every year and we never turn anyone away.

We need your ongoing support to ensure we can continue giving our patients the same excellent level of care so please consider helping us today – share this story of hope with your family and friends and make a difference today.

A regular debit order donation would help us the most – as it allows us to budget ahead for forthcoming expenses like new equipment, however a once-off donation would be greatly appreciated too. Any amount you can afford will help us to do more for children. Sign up for our Regular Giving Programme which allows for a direct debit order from your bank account for a set, monthly or annual amount.  Even the smallest donation made on a regular basis can make a real difference to a sick child as it helps the Children’s Hospital Trust plan for the future. 

100% of your donation goes directly to helping the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital where it is needed most. All donations over R100 per annum will receive a Section 18A Tax certificate (South African Residents only).

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