At the age of 3, Bryan Diamond (17) from Heinz Park, Cape Town was left paralyzed when a gang bullet ripped through his head, removing most of his brain.
His mother, Ronell who was also shot during the incident, has dedicated the last 14 years of her life to caring for her son who spends most of his time in bed and is fed via a feeding tube every 2 hours.
In the last 2 months, Bryan’s accessibility and quality of life has increased tremendously, with the Kolisi Foundation stepping in to make life-changing alterations to the Diamond home, allowing Bryan to be more included in family activities.
To further support Bryan and his family, the Kolisi Foundation has partnered with Shonaquip, a non-profit organisation based in Cape Town that provides specialised wheelchairs and support services to those in need.
Kindly donating R40 000 towards a customised buggy and seating, the Kolisi Foundation has launched a campaign to support Shonaquip Social Enterprise in raising a further R51 000 on BackaBuddy to cover the cost of a side-lyer and car positioner, that will support Bryan’s body and allow the family to travel more freely.
Additional costs will also be used to cover the cost of his therapy.
With support from the public, over R12 300 has already been raised on the platform with kind contributions from donors both locally and abroad.
“With funds raised on Bryan’s BackaBuddy campaign, he will be equipped with the appropriate devices he urgently needs and his barriers to accessing government health and social services will be eliminated. His mother, who has been taking care of him 24 hours a day for the last 14 years will also be able to move around her community more easily” – says Danika Schultz, from Shonaquip Social Enterprise.
