HOT Cares Stumps Up for Life-Changing Insulin System for Stricken 9-Year-old

When children are sick and vulnerable, it really pulls at the heartstrings, and that feeling is, arguably, even more intense when you see a parent feeling helpless and just desperate to ease their little one’s pain.

That’s the feeling that struck us here at Hot Cares, when we received an email from a concerned work colleague of Leonard Ruck, who asked to remain anonymous.

He told us about Leonard’s nine-year-old daughter, Hannah, who collapsed at school and lapsed into a coma in March.

After numerous tests it was discovered that Hannah suffers from diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which develops when the body can’t produce enough insulin. It’s potentially life-threatening, if it isn’t monitored and managed correctly, with a close eye on the prescribed amount of insulin Hannah needs.

Fortunately, she has come out of her coma, but her life – and that of her parents – has changed dramatically. Hannah’s blood sugar levels need to be tested every two to three hours, starting at 05h00 and running through to midnight every day.

This, as you can imagine, has placed great strain on the family, as Leonard and his wife are constantly worrying and having to take time off work to ensure Hannah’s levels are correctly monitored at school.

What she really needs is a very particular type of insulin monitor pump, which would be attached to her body, continuously monitoring her and administering the correct amount of insulin to keep her stable.

“The cost of the machine is a little over R53 000,” said the email, “which is way beyond the reach of Leonard and his wife. As a father, I feel his pain and sense of helplessness to save his little girl from this trauma and possible fatality. Leonard has been doing his utmost to come up with the funding to pay for this machine, but one can appreciate that in these trying times there is not much hope of finding someone to hand over R50k so easily.”

That’s where Hot Cares likes to step in – helping those in serious need and making a material difference to the lives of those around us.

We also get a sense of Leonard’s pain.

“Even though he is facing this momentous challenge, he still does his best at work while keeping it all together for his family, and being a diabetic himself, he told me that he would even forfeit his own medication needs to help his little girl,” said the email.

You can see why Hot Cares wants to help this family. That’s why we’ll be stumping up the money for a Minimed 780G system, which will continuously monitor Hannah’s insulin and make adjustments to the amount she needs. Hot Cares will also pay for counselling to help Hannah understand diabetes better and adjust to her new way of life in a positive manner.

We hope that this will make some sort of difference to Hannah’s life and that of her family.

If you are a prospective partner of Hot Cares, or if you are in a position to donate towards making a meaningful difference, or have a story to alert us to, or a programme you’d like to partner with Hot Cares on, please get in touch with us by emailing info@hotcares.co.za.