This Brackenfell man says Eskom’s load shedding could end up killing him.
André Botma says he is living in fear as his life is dependent on machines which switch off during the constant power cuts.
The bed-ridden André suffers from muscular dystrophy and has been kept alive by a ventilator for the past 10 years.
He says the ventilator does have a battery pack but this only lasts for about five hours, and on Monday he and his caregiver got a moerse shock when Eskom suddenly announced unprecedented Stage 6 load shedding, to avoid a total collapse of the strained national grid. Stage 6 means three power cuts per day, and last up to two and a half hours at a time.
However, André says their power was off for four hours, and he started to panic as he feared the ventilator’s battery would fail before the power came back on.
POWER CRISIS: Eskom. File Image.
“I was only 10 years old when I was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and I’ve been hooked up to my ventilator for the past 10 years when I became bedridden,” he explains.
“I turn 28 years old on 5 January but I fear I may not see my next birthday.
“We had a huge shock when Eskom announced Stage 6 load shedding, we didn’t know what this meant as the ventilator battery only lasts about five hours to keep me alive.
“My life is dependent on electricity.
“Our power was off for four hours and we stressed so much.”
WORRY: Cathy Saal, 50, with the sucking machine. Picture: Solly Lottering.
André says he has one ventilator which is currently in for a service, at a cost of R36k.
“We managed to borrow another ventilator, a new one costs over R100 000,” he adds.
“I’m living in fear because the load shedding could damage the ventilator due to power surges.”
His caregiver Cathy Saal, 50, from Eerste River, says in addition, André is dependent on a sucking machine.
“André can’t cough so he needs the machine to suck the phlegm and spit, otherwise he can choke on it,” she explains.
“We fear the load shedding may damage these machines. At the hospitals they have back-up machines, but we don’t have that here.”