With dreams of becoming a paramedic, 8-year-old Exzevia, who is being treated for leukaemia, and his brother Guidance, 6, recently had the chance to be honorary members of the Netcare 911 flight crew for a day.
The emergency medical services provider teamed up with the Reach For A Dream Foundation to surprise the brothers from Philippi.
The family has not had an easy time in recent months, as Exzevia is undergoing regular treatment and Guidance is a matching bone marrow donor for the transplant.
“We really enjoyed it,” said the boys’ mother, Susan Sibanda.
“When the ambulance came to pick us up from home it was already exciting for the boys, and it really came as a surprise when one of the Netcare 911 crew announced we are going to the airport. We had no idea what was coming.”
Erna Serfontein, a Netcare 911 emergency care technician who was part of the ambulance crew, said it was heart-warming to see Exzevia and Guidance’s excitement.
“Their faces when we picked them up, and the way their eyes lit up just having a ride in the ambulance was so touching.”
After a quick tour of the Western Cape Netcare 911 HEMS base, Sibanda and her sons were ushered onto a helicopter for a sightseeing flight around Cape Town.
“It was a privilege to help make this dream come true for Exzevia, and to include the gift of love and the hope Guidance is giving his older brother.
He is the embodiment of a superhero,” Serfontein said.
Cape Times