On Wednesday, the 3^rd of September 2025, nine-year-old Lunje was walking home from school with two of his friends, as he does every day. It’s not far. But that day, Lunje started crossing a road without seeing the car coming towards him. When he realised that he was in danger, he began to run, but it was too late. The driver had slammed on the brakes when he saw the small boy, but the impact still threw Lunje to the ground.

The driver jumped out, scooped Lunje up, and urgently asked for his name, surname, and his mother’s name. Lunje, dazed but responsive, gave him the information, and the driver managed to contact one of Lunje’s relatives on Facebook. He reached out to them, asking them to notify Lunje’s mother, Hlonipha, and tell her to meet him at the Khayelitsha District Hospital. With that, he took off again with Lunje in his car.

“I was at work at the time,” Hlonipha says. “I received a call from my cousin to say that one of my children was involved in a car accident. I have three children, so I asked, ‘Who was it?’ He didn’t know.”

With her heart sinking, Hlonipha quickly left work and hurried to the hospital, where she found Lunje. He was no longer responsive. He urgently needed a CT scan to assess the extent of his injuries, especially to his head and brain. But Khayelitsha District Hospital didn’t have the necessary equipment, so Lunje was transferred to the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

When they arrived, a CT scan of Lunje’s head revealed that the left hemisphere of his brain was swollen, and there was a tiny fracture in his skull. “His body was fine. It was just his head that was affected.” Hlonipha says sadly. He couldn’t walk, talk, or eat. He didn’t need surgery, but the doctors said his brain would need time to recover. How much time? No one could say for sure. All Hlonipha and her family can do now is wait and hope.

Hlonipha pauses and shakes her head as she thinks about the day it happened. “How did I feel? I don’t even know how I feel now. It all happened so fast. It’s only been five days… I haven’t had time to process. I’m stressed out. I just want him to be normal again.”

Almost a week later, Lunje is just starting to show small signs of recovery, with glimpses of his personality shining through. “He’s obsessed with playing soccer,” Hlonipha laughs. “He calls himself Seleng after the Pirates player. Just now, I showed him a video. I asked him, ‘Who is this?’ and he said, ‘Seleng!’”

Back home, Lunje’s five-year-old brother, Olwenene, is missing his playmate and dreaming about him coming home. “He says that when he was asleep, he saw Lunje walking.” Olwenene woke up and insisted that his grandmother take Lunje’s shoes to the hospital. “So I’ve got his shoes here,” Hlonipha smiles, pulling a pair of green Crocs out of the bag beside the bed, “because he reminded my mom that when Lunje wakes up, he needs to wear his shoes.”

It may be a while yet before Lunje is ready to play with Olwenene again, or even to wear his shoes, but he’s surrounded by a team of experts, doctors, a physio, a dietician, and a speech therapist, working with him to ensure he has the very best chance of a full recovery.

For children like Lunje who have sustained traumatic injuries, CT scans are an essential part of planning their treatment. Without the best-quality imaging, injuries could be missed, or families could miss out on the clarity that they so desperately need. Thanks to you, all children visiting the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital have access to the most recent innovations in CT technology to ensure that their medical teams can provide them with the best quality care when they need it most.