Burns ward gets makeover
Trust brightens lives of victims with a splash of colour, cartoon characters
The burns ward at Frere Hospital has received a major facelift, transforming it into a more child-friendly environment with splashes of colour to even put a smile on an adult’s face.
The upgrades are set to provide a more comfortable stay for victims. This is thanks to close to half a million rand that was injected into renovating the ward by the Eyabantwana Children’s Trust.
Now in its sixth year, the Trust is a nonprofit organisation established to help address the paediatric surgery needs of the hospital. Each year, money raised by the Trust goes towards improving the care of children with surgical conditions.
The Daily Dispatch went on a walkabout in the burns ward on Wednesday. The ward takes up to 18 patients and is divided into sections to accommodate men and women and children. The walls lining the corridors have been livened up with colourful jungle animal characters from children’s cartoons such as Lion King. Other upgrades include bigger showers and a mobile bed bath for bedridden patients.
Burns ward manager sister Michele Leeuw said the upgrades would bring much needed life into the ward. The ward received patients with extensive burn wounds needing hospitalisation sometimes for months on end before they were fully rehabilitated.
“The Trust really put a lot of work into renovating the ward. The colour brightens up the ward for both young and old patients. Children busy rehabilitating run up and down the corridors to avoid deformities and now they get to do so with bouts of colour surrounding them. We get patients here who sustain burns from freak accidents such as shackfires, izinyoka illegal connections, and even those struck by lightning.”
The Trust held a launch of the ward on Wednesday at the East London Resource Centre for all the organisations that had helped raise funds for this year’s project.
Dr Milind Chitnis, one of the trustees, said the constant shortage of resources in hospitals meant that willing individuals had to go beyond the call of duty and do more to boost medical services. He said through fundraiser events that were held throughout the year and the Granddad’s Army memorial ride to Cape Town in March, the Trust raised over R400,000 towards renovations.
“[Burns] are a horrible injury needing special equipment to harvest skin and cover the burnt areas. The Trust has been able to sponsor equipment necessary for such surgeries,” he added.