Violet is a 30 year old Zimbabwean and paraplegic following a car accident in 2013 just after she gained a BSc in Agricultural Science (post-harvest technology and food security). Her father had died unexpectedly in 2012 leaving Violet’s mother to look after Violet and her two sisters one of whom has a Learning Disability. Violet’s mother is a subsistence farmer living 10 kilometres from Nyazura, a small town accessed by ‘dirt’ road.

  Despite the enormous daily challenges, Violet is studying for an MA in Development Studies at the Women’s University in Harare to which she has to find lifts in her wheel chair every weekend during semesters. She also supports other disabled people in her community by holding peer support meetings and using her knowledge to empower others to become more self-sufficient e.g. growing vegetables. Violet is a charismatic, optimistic and cheerful person determined to succeed.

Following a recent increase in extremely painful spasms friends and the SmileStar charity paid for new MRI scans. The diagnosis from the scans is that Violet has syringomyelia, a disorder in which a cyst forms within the spinal cord that can expand over time destroying the spinal cord. If untreated this will be life threatening and include increased and severe pain, loss of sensation, bladder dysfunction, dysaesthesia and other conditions.

Cost (£)

Surgery 4,640

Anaesthetist 2,320

Hospitalisation 3,850

Post Op MRI Scans 1,075

Post Op consultations 160

Post Op medication e.g. antibiotics 200

Travel to and from Harare 240

Personal care items e.g. catheter, pads 120

New wheelchair 250

TOTAL 12,855