San tracker thanks medical team for help
“I REMEMBER when I was younger, before the troubles with my knees began, I took my son into the park to teach him about nature. As we were walking, I saw a lion in the grass nearby. I told my son, Klein Andrew, to stand still and observe. We watched the lioness for a while.
“She didn’t attack us; she didn’t even mind us being there. It is one of my favourite memories,” recalls 56-year-old Andrew Kruiper.
For over a decade, it has become increasingly difficult for Kruiper to walk in the sands of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) where he was born among the dunes of his ancestral land. As a member of the Khomani San people, he is one of the few remaining individuals seasoned in the traditional tracking skills of his forebears. He also has a particular affinity for lions. Andrew worked as a ranger and tracker in the KTP for many years. He suffers from osteoarthritis, affecting both knees, and the only hope he had of regaining full mobility was a double knee replacement.
“I started to feel sad because I was no longer part of nature and I haven’t been able to show or teach my children about nature, as my uncle, Vet Piet, taught me about the plants, the animals, and tracking in the wild.
“I have a great passion for nature, and I believe it is my vocation to share this knowledge so that others will appreciate these things.”
Patricia Glyn, a friend and an author who has documented the Khomani clan’s fast-disappearing heritage, brought Kruiper’s plight to the attention of orthopaedic surgeon Ponky Firer, who practises at Netcare Linksfield Hospital.
Firer agreed to donate his time and expertise to perform Kruiper’s double knee replacement, and he enlisted the assistance of a number of his colleagues and other healthcare service providers, who also agreed to take on Kruiper’s case pro bono.