In the blink of an eye the lives of our best friends, Vernene and Pieter van Greunen changed completely on 17 September 2017 when Pieter suffered a freak pool diving accident which caused the dislocation of the C4 and C5 vertebrae and left him with massive spinal cord – and high – cervical nerve damage.
Pieter underwent surgery to secure the injured neck vertebrae, but had initially suffered serious lung complications and still remains in ICU. While he is showing a great amount of improvement – through his immense strength and determination to recover – and has regained movement in his arms and some sensation in his hands, he has still not regained any feeling below his waist and is currently breathing with the help of a trach and ventilator.
Because both Vernene and Pieter have a beautiful network of friends and family who have constantly been in touch in terms of how they can help outside of prayers, hospital visits, goodie bags and messages, we thought to set up this platform for people to do just that.
The past year has been an incredibly tough one for Pieter and Vernene. Pieter, a kind, young father and hardworking entrepreneur, working mainly with his hands, had just started getting his fledgling construction and carpentry business off the ground, while Vernene lost her job shortly after finding out she was pregnant with their beautiful baby boy Kai, who they welcomed in April of this year.
The road to Pieter’s recovery is going to be tough, long and costly. At present, while we are all extremely hopeful, none of us know for certain whether he will ever be able to walk, let alone work again to be able to support his young family as before. They have incredible friends and family who have been able to support them emotionally and help look after Kai while Vernene spends long, difficult days at the hospital waiting for updates and good news.
Should you want to assist financially, with whatever you are able to give, this would not only support Pieter in his recovery, but also help relieve the financial burden himself, Vernene and baby Kai now face. We have no way of knowing how long this family will struggle for before being able to be financially stable again and we cannot determine the amount they will need to survive until that time. We have estimated a financial cost that will help keep them on their toes for hopefully the next year.