on air now
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Jeff Moloi
At Wings and Wishes, we are dedicated to transporting critically and chronically ill children to receive the lifesaving specialist medical care that they require.
Our objective is to provide transport for children, who are deemed financially less fortunate, to receive life-saving and/or specialized medical treatment which they require – anywhere in Africa.
We provide compassionate and professional assistance to these children and their families, ensuring they have immediate access to the essential medical services which they need, and which are not available to them at a local level.
Our aim is to reduce premature and preventable child mortality rates, by facilitating access to specialized medical care, for those children who are critically in need of such treatment.
We provide transport opportunities (flight or road) to a suitable medical facility for critically ill children and one adult (usually a parent). We also provide transfers to get to a bus station or airport as well as from these facilities to the hospital.
In addition, we provide the following :
The picture below is of little Luminjalo, clearly very happy to be home in East London after 10 days in hospital in Johannesburg.
A list of our needs :
Wellness days for caregivers:
Money – to pay for flights and busses
Miles – people can donate their voyager miles to sponsor a flight
Toiletries
Any comfort items
Beanies, scarfs for winter
Photocopier paper
Airtime for our 24-hour number
Physical Address and account details for those who wish to donate :
159 Harrower Road, North End, Port Elizabeth
Manager: Inge Human: 082 352 8515/041-3954092
Bank: FNB
Account Name: Wings and Wishes
Branch Code: 255005
Account Number: 6222 361 8284
One of our many success stories – the story of CJ.
“What a wonderful day it was – the birth of CJ.
It is a little bit stressful as I’m a single mom and I’m young. But at least I have family. He’s a lovely little baby – he smiles a lot, but he also cries a lot. There is something I’m concerned about. Just a feeling. Something is not quite right. The doctor at the clinic wants to send him for some tests…
The doctor just called. He says he needs to see us urgently. My heart is pounding…what is wrong with my baby?
This is terrifying. CJ has a brain tumour. The doctor says it is growing so fast and CJ is dying. I am utterly devastated. Shattered. I am shaking, crying, screaming. He says we need to go to Cape Town. Today. I don’t know what to do. How will we get there? Is there any hope for my baby boy? I don’t know what to do…” CJ’s mom.
CJ was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour at the age of 7 months. His organs were slowly shutting down. His mom, a young, single mother was given the earth-shattering news that her baby might die before reaching the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.
Within 5 hours of receiving the urgent call from the neurosurgeon, we could get him and his mom onto a flight to Cape Town. CJ was at death’s door. Even the airline staff were hesitant to let this incredibly ill, and almost unresponsive, baby and his mom board the flight. Luckily, we had a letter from the neurosurgeon. The airline assisted CJ and his mom with priority boarding and they left.
On arrival at the Red Cross Hospital, he was rushed into ICU. It was life or death at this point and the clock was ticking. Once in ICU a drain was inserted into CJ’s skull and nearly a litre of fluid was drained.
The doctor confirmed the heart-breaking news, that should he have arrived a day later, it would have been too late. He would have died.
Over the 2 months that followed, CJ had a series of operations to remove the tumour, and a shunt was inserted. Nearly 3 months after the devastating news, CJ and his mom were finally able to return home.
He has a long road to recovery ahead of him but had a happy first birthday in June 2018.
This is just one of many stories of children that have received life-saving treatment because they were able to reach the hospital – and in time.
This is what we do.
