Kiara-Rose’s darkest year meets a bright moment of hope through Hot Cares Christmas

At just 15 years old, Kiara-Rose should be living the life of a typical teenager—laughing with friends, playing hockey, dreaming about the future. Instead, her world has been consumed by relentless, unpredictable seizures that strike without warning and without mercy. Some days it’s one seizure. Other days, three. But every day carries the same terrifying truth: Kiara-Rose is in constant danger.

Her mother Carmella describes moments no parent should ever witness—her child suddenly collapsing, her oxygen plummeting, her body locked and unresponsive. “I can never ever put in words how much this broke me,” she says, recalling the night Kiara finally crumbled under the weight of pain, fear, and cruel comments from those who didn’t understand her condition.

Despite the physical toll, despite the migraines, the bruises, the constant risk of injury, Kiara-Rose continues to rise each morning with a smile that masks the suffering she has learned to carry far too young. She still tries her best at school. She still shows up for her hockey team when she can. She still puts others at ease—even when her own world is spinning.

Her parents, Carmella and James, are pillars of extraordinary strength. Carmella works late into the night—doing beauty treatments, baking, taking every job she can—so she can stay available during the day in case a seizure strikes at school. James juggles ministry duties and part-time work while carrying the emotional weight of protecting his family. They have sacrificed everything—sleep, finances, stability, and even their own home life—just to keep searching for answers.

But despite their determination, they are still missing the one thing that could help unlock a path to treatment: an upfront R200 000 required for a week of specialised hospital monitoring, the only way doctors can safely capture Kiara-Rose’s seizures and determine what is happening inside her brain. Without this, her school cannot allow her to return next year—cutting her off from normalcy, friendships, and her education.

As Carmella wrote in her plea for help:
“I don’t know what else to do… I only have my faith in God and in humanity that somewhere out there are angels who will help her.”

This December, those angels appeared—in the form of our generous HOT 102.7FM listeners.

Hot Cares is honoured to step in and remove the heaviest barrier this family has faced. We will be covering the full R200 000 needed to admit Kiara-Rose for the specialised treatment and monitoring she urgently requires.

This donation is more than medical support. It is safety. It is relief. It is hope. It is the chance for a 15-year-old girl to reclaim the life that illness has stolen from her.

And perhaps most importantly, it is a message to Kiara-Rose that she is not alone, not misunderstood, not invisible.

She is surrounded by a community that sees her courage and stands beside her.

Because this is what Hot Cares Christmas is all about—restoring dignity, rebuilding hope, and reminding families like Carmella’s that there is light at the end of the tunnel.