Daniel and Friends Fund: For Daniel

What is the Daniel and Friends Fund?

On the 23rd August 2013 little Daniel le Roux lost his lengthy and courageous battle with Leigh Syndrome, exactly one week after another little warrior, Mariele Laurie, succumbed to complications of the syndrome she suffered from, Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome. Professor Pieter Fourie, whose care of and love for Daniel and Mariele had gone over and beyond anything which might be considered fair professional expectation, was determined not to allow the heartache and devastation caused by such tragedy to go without lending itself to a higher purpose...and so shortly after Mariele and Daniel had earned their angel wings, Professor Fourie shared with Kate and Lianie, their mothers, his vision for an organisation which would provide much-needed support for other parents who might be on a similar journey. Just a few short months later, the Daniel and Friends Fund was born guided by, by this time, three special needs mothers, each symbolic of the three friends who had helped Daniel in the Biblical passage from which Professor Fourie had drawn his inspiration.

Since their launch in February 2014, the Daniel and Friends Fund (a registered non-profit organisation) and the dedicated and driven people behind it, have provided not only the emotional and psychological support often sought by parents of children with special needs, but have also committed to ensuring that these parents have had access to the necessary knowledge and training in order to equip them to care for their children in the best possible way that they can. While largely focusing on top priority issues like providing extremely affordable CPR courses, free therapy sessions, psychology-based programs for the parents, occasional donations of items/equipment necessary for caring for a child with special needs...the importance of also creating a fundamental base from which friendships and 'normalcy' can stem has not gone overlooked. To this end, the Daniel and Friends Fund mommies are often treated on special days like Mother's Day and Women's Day and, where possible, these invitations are extended to the entire family for celebrations such as Mandela Day, Christmas Day, etc.

The purpose of our blog is not only to provide the opportunity for sponsors, supporters and followers to stay in touch with the various projects and events we're busy with but also, and just as importantly, to provide an insight for others into what life entails for families on a special needs journey, as well as enlightening fellow parents to the fact that this journey need not be travelled alone...

Saturday, August 29, 2015

For Daniel

Little Daniel le Roux earned his angel wings just seven days after Mariele Laurie, on the 23rd August 2013. It is his courage and determination to live, through struggles we can barely comprehend, which became the inspirational vision behind the Daniel and Friends Fund.

I love writing...love re-creating memories and experiences simply be stringing the right selection of words together. But I have struggled to find words which can, in any way, do Daniel and Mariele's stories justice.

Can there be any tragedy more unimaginable than losing your child?

Can there by any memory more cherished than one from which a whole new purpose is born?

At the Daniel and Friends Fund we regularly advocate that parenting a child with special needs not rob you of your dreams, your joy, your life...it merely requires shifting your perception of what those three things represent. But, while we are passionate about uplifting parents/carers, we are just as passionate about keeping it real and the reality is...very many parents of children with special needs face the possibility of losing their child at some point.

Channeling heartache and grief into an instrument through which you not only reach out to others, but dedicate yourself to ensuring a better quality of life for families travelling a similar path, is the very essence of why Kate and Lianie's vision for the Daniel and Fiends Fund is so powerful.

Daniel and Friends Fund