Hot Cares Christmas – Car Accident Victim Gets to Rebuild Her Life with Key Tool

A mother’s love knows no bounds and that’s the sense you get when you chat to Sue, who mailed us about her daughter.

Tayla was involved in a horrific car accident in December of 2019 – an accident that killed her best friend and left Tayla with severe brain injuries. She was in ICU for a month, four months in total in hospital, and had to learn how to walk again.

“Two months later, we lost my dad – her grandfather – whom she adored,” says Sue. “She has been through so much, but she is positive and kind and has a beautiful heart.”

Tayla was busy writing her GED matric at the time of the accident and only had maths and science to complete. She is determined to finish her matric, but Sue is concerned that she can’t concentrate and focus, due to her suffering permanent focal brain damage. She also has a weaker right side and her balance has been badly affected.

“But, it shows that she just wants to be normal,” says Sue.

Tayla is now 22 and has fought every step of the way to recover fully.

“She is just a strong, amazing and wonderful young lady, dealing with the challenges she has been left with, with a smile and positivity,” says Sue. “She is my only child and I’m a single mom – it’s always just been the two of us.”

Tayla does her best to help her mom with chores in the house and has a positive outlook on life, but the last few years have been rough on both of them. Like many people, Sue was retrenched during the Covid-19 pandemic and although she’s temping now, things have been incredibly tough.

Fortunately, they have a roof over their heads, as Sue bought a small house when she was single and enclosed the balcony to make a room for Tayla when she was born. But she needs more.

“I would love for my daughter to have a treadmill that would help her hugely with building and stretching muscle and improving her balance. She is house-bound during the day and getting reasonable exercise is not achievable in a small apartment,” says Sue.

Hot Cares is in the fortunate position to be able to help out and will be gifting Tayla the treadmill she needs this Christmas!

That treadmill will come with a few biokineticist sessions to help show Tayla the best ways to build up her muscle strength and a handrail in the bathroom for peace of mind for her mom, because of Tayla’s affected balance.

Sue says she’ll make space in the dining room for the treadmill and just re-jig the space, but here at Hot Cares we thought we could help with that too, so we’ll also be giving Sue and Tayla a Mr Price Home voucher to get a few things and kit out the space.

On top of all of that, because Tayla’s cellphone was stolen just before the accident and the fact that a phone is an incredibly useful tool for her to practice her brain exercises, we’ll also be giving her a new cellphone this Christmas!

We hope this is one to remember for Sue and Tayla!