Paralysed pilot’s note gives family hope

LIVASHNEE Naidoo, one of the sisters of a pilot who has been paralysed for more than two years, was in tears when she received a note written by her brother, who has not been able to lift a hand since then.

Livashnee is studying and living in the UK, away from her family in Southport, on the KZN South Coast, and was surprised by the e-mail she received, which contained a photograph of the handwritten note that read: “I miss you Liv and I love you”.

The note was the first time since his accident that Kershan Naidoo was able to write, and his note was for his sister, marking an incredible milestone in his recovery.

“It looks like it was written by a four-year-old who is still learning to write, but to me, it meant the world,” said Livashnee.

Kershan is a pilot who passed the test to be a captain just a few days before his “incident”.

In December 2016, he fell off a chair and broke his arm during his break at a French military base where he was working.

“When he arrived in Durban, he went to hospital. It was going to be a quick and simple procedure. Three hours later, we were told he was in a coma,” said Livashnee.

The family said they could still not understand how their jovial son could walk into the hospital making jokes and laughing, yet just a few hours later, be in intensive care.

“From that day, Kershan lost his ability to walk, sit, talk or even move his fingers,” said Livashnee.

Kershan’s mother, Saro, said she would do anything for her son’s full recovery “even though we have nothing left anymore”.

“Kershan’s medicine is very expensive. We are very thankful to the people who donated on Kershan’s Wings, a fundraising page, to help him get the medicine he needs.”

The family said the 38-year-old pilot had been showing signs of physical recovery at his parents’ house.

“Now he is able to sit, he is able to go outside and get fresh air and the ocean breeze. He is able to stand and take a few steps with the help of his home-nurse, Happiness Mlitwa.

“Despite doing physio and all the other things that health practitioners do, he and Happiness sit at the table and have little conversations and he learns how to hold a pen. This will help him be able to write what he wants to say while he is still trying to get his speech back,” said Ganes, Kershan’s father.

Mlitwa said she spent a lot of time with Kershan and she understood what he was saying when he tried to speak.

“We do activities that will help him to open his hands and hold things. The letter he wrote for his sister was the first thing he wrote when he was finally able to hold a pen. He always says he cannot wait to get better and he promised to teach me how to fly.”

With Mlitwa’s help, Kershan told the Independent on Saturday: “When you’re flying an aircraft, you have to always be calm and relax.”

The family is happy with his progress, and maintain they will never lose hope and faith.

“He will recover, we are praying for it to happen someday,” said Saro.

One of Kershan’s students based at the Durban Aviation Centre, Zeyn Hansa, said he visited Kershan last year. “I was very emotional, and I didn’t like the feeling I had.

“I was angry, because whatever had happened to him could happen to anyone. He is a very intelligent person and he conducted my pilot test. He is humble and funny. He always joked around and got along with everyone,” said Hansa.

Looking at his uniform picture and his captain epaulettes that he never got a chance to wear, Kershan said: “I remember everything about flying aircraft. I want to fly again. I miss it.”