Cycling to bring smiles to children who need it most
DOCTOR Alexander Zühlke of Tygerberg Hospital performs corrective surgery on children born with facial abnormalities as part of the Smile Foundation’s efforts.
Now he, along with other teams, will take on the threeday Glacier Storms River Traverse along the Garden Route to raise funds to bring a smile to children who need it most.
From August 10 to 12, the trails around the Tsitsikamma Village will host the mountain race. Participants will take on daily distances ranging from 40km to 70km, traverse the mountains, plantations and coastline adjacent to the Tsitsikamma Village Inn.
In 2016, the Glacier Storms River Traverse became the first in the growing stable of nationwide mountain biking and trail running events run by Dryland Event Management to adopt the Smile Foundation as its official charity.
Since then it has helped raise thousands of rand to help the Smile Foundation in providing corrective surgery on children born with facial abnormalities.
“It makes a huge difference to see a child with a cleft lip and palette, and to then see the difference after the operation and the impact it makes on the whole family,” Zühlke said.
“Often the family cannot believe how it’s possible and their whole outlook changes.
“That child has a better start in life again.
“Every single time after a surgery I feel I’ve made a difference. Each operation is a new challenge for me and I’m always very happy if everything goes according to how I want it to be.
“I love working on children because they are phenomenal in terms of recovery.
“Their turnaround time and healing power is phenomenal.” Zühlke said he approached his job with much the same expectations an aspirant mountain biker had going into a race.
“Plastic surgeons are always trying to be perfectionists and you’re critical of yourself so you are never 100% happy and always strive to be better. Though I qualified as a plastic surgeon almost 17 years ago, I’m still learning and trying to get better,” he said.
Smile Foundation chief executive Hedley Lewis said the support of the Glacier Storms River Traverse riders echoed the widespread support the organisation received from many of South Africa’s major sporting events.
“We are really privileged to get a lot of support from extraordinary individuals. It’s about changing children’s lives and it’s about so many partners who do this with us every single day,” Lewis said.
Children are catered for at the race village at the Tsitsikamma Village Inn with meals and daycare while their parents are out cycling.