Former head boy bedridden after brain injury

KNYSNA NEWS - A volunteer firefighter with the Knysna fire department, and also former head boy at Knysna High School needs your help.

Deon Engelbrecht (21), while longboarding (a type of skateboard) with friends near the Oakhill sports campus last week, had a terrible fall that landed him in the ICU at Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town.

According to his mother Ronelle Engelbrecht, Deon was not wearing any protective equipment. "He fell extremely hard and cracked his skull from the base up to behind his left ear," she added.

"It is a very serious brain injury," she said.

Engelbrecht said that because neither Knysna nor the George provincial hospital had neuro facilities available, Deon was flown to Groote Schuur on Wednesday, July 26 after a night's observation at the George hospital.

"Deon had some bleeding on the brain which has stopped since. He has also been discharged from ICU and is now bedridden in a normal ward. There is still a lot of rehabilitation that he will need to undergo, and sometimes because of the pressure on his brain he becomes disoriented or forgetful. We had the best doctors in the country looking after him," said Engelbrecht.

Full recovery expected
According to doctors, she said, Deon will have to stay in bed for the next two months, and will not even be allowed to watch television or play video games. He is expected to make a full recovery within six months.

Currently, she said, he is on medication for pain, nausea and epilepsy.

But for his full recovery to happen, Deon needs some help.

According to his mother, Deon did not belong to a medical aid, which will make the coming months very difficult, and for which the family will need some assistance.

"There is medication he will need, he will need to see various therapists, and he will need a carer for at least eight hours a day as both his father and I go to work during the day.

As he was a volunteer, he will also not be generating any income for himself at the moment. There are also the travel expenses involved for his follow-up visits to Groote Schuur. The next one will be on September 6," she explained.

Engelbrecht said that one good thing to come out of Deon's accident is the amazing support she has been receiving via messages and phone calls. "It hasn't stopped since his accident. I never knew my son had so many friends who care for him," she said.

Deon Engelbrecht before the accident that cracked his skull and caused bleeding on the brain.

She also wanted to express to other parents and children that wearing safety equipment while doing any kind of sport or activity that requires it is of the utmost importance.

Deon's uncle Wynand Steyn said Deon has an "unbelievable" passion for the ocean, nature and to be of help to others. Besides being head boy of Knysna High in 2014, he was also a first-team rugby and cricket player. "He was also a lifeguard, a surf instructor, and started working for the Knysna fire department just before the fires broke out," Steyn said.

If you would like to assist Deon and his family in any way, contact Ronelle on 083 754 2340, or Wynand on 083 310 0188. Alternatively, check out the Back-a-Buddy page that Steyn has created for him at www.backabuddy.co.za/fundraising-for-deon.