A young woman’s life was saved today when Jacaranda 94.2 FM listeners rallied to raise over R900 000 to pay for 15-year old Bridgette dos Santos from Pretoria to have a liver transplant.
Bridgette was given three months to live if she did not have the transplant that would save her life. With no medical aid, it seemed as if she would not live to see her 16th birthday.
Headed up by Anton and Elizabeth Ernst, who know Bridgette from the school she attends, various requests for support came streaming into angels@jacarandafm.com. In last month, the Angels told Jacaranda 94.2 listeners about Bridgette’s plight – imploring them to help in whichever way they could. Within only a few days her support fund stood at R143 000 – thanks to a donation from the Jacaranda 94.2 Good Morning Angels Fund and the generosity of listeners.
But on Monday, when Good Morning Angels revisited Bridgette’s story, the floodgates really opened. In just 48 hours leading up to today’s Good Morning Angels, more than R250 000 was raised thanks to donations from people like Pierre van Zyl from Durapi Consultants who donated R15 000, Andries and Ina Small who donated R10 000, JG Ferreira who donated R5 000, Martin Jooste from Survey Resource Management mining Services who donated R10 000 and many more individuals and companies who pledged amounts of between R100 and R1000.
Madeleine Enslin from Norman Elektries’ four daughters each received R1 000 from their grandpa to support this cause – she added R1 000 of her own to make it R5 000!
Bianca and Cassie donated R4 000 from funds they were actually saving up for their wedding…
An anonymous donor also committed a monumental R100 000 to this fantastic cause.
Today, Bridgette, Anton and Elizabeth were in studio with Frankie du Toit, Dianne Broodryk and the breakfast gang. There was one more, BIG surprise at around 8:15: another donor, who chose to remain anonymous, pledged R600 000 – making sure that money is NO issue and that Bridgette receives the best possible care in a second lease on life. In total over R900 000 was pledged!
There was a moment of disbelief in the studio at what had transpired, until the reality sunk in with overwhelming emotion: A LIFE had been saved. “I just want to thank everyone who supported me,” said a teary-eyed but elated Bridgette, who was at a complete loss for words.
