H20 legend Vernon Koekemoer fighting for his life in hospital
HE BECAME an instant celebrity in 2008 when a picture of him at well known party H20 went viral.
Now Cassie Booyse, better known as Vernon Koekemoer, is fighting for his life in a Ekurhuleni hospital.
Booyse has been in and out of hospital since 2019, having already had three hip operations at the Tambo Memorial Hospital, in Boksburg.
He is now back in hospital and is set to undergo yet another operation.
His life partner, Linda Coetzee, says that Booyse is fighting for his life and is in desperate need of a miracle.
Booyse began struggling with his right hip in 2018. After a visit to the Tambo Memorial Hospital, he was booked to undergo a hip replacement in January 2019.
The operation seemed to have been successful at first, but Booyse was unable to walk without using crutches.
A second hip replacement was booked and the doctor admitted to making a mistake during the first operation.
“He said he put in the wrong prosthesis. He got sepsis in the wound which continued to weep. He still couldn’t walk.
“They just continued to give him antibiotics, and told him to come back after two weeks,” said Coetzee.
After continuing to take antibiotics prescribed to him by the doctor, Booyse’s teeth even began falling out.
Coetzee said she pulled a 30cm string out of his wound after Booyse complained about being in pain.
“I don’t know if it might be a stitch that never resolved, or if it’s a piece of string that they forgot in the wound during the operation,” said Coetzee.
Coetzee said she is not sure if her partner is still strong enough to fight back.
“The doctor stole five years of our lives.
“He ruined his life.”
Booyse is bedridden and in immense pain and with no medical aid, he is back at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Ekurhuleni and scheduled for another operation this week.
He is now fighting to stay alive and has been in so much pain that he has wanted to take his own life, said Coetzee
A Backabuddy campaign has been started to raise funds for the H20 party-goer that would go towards his health care.
Funds raised will go directly to Coetzee, his life partner, so that she can try to arrange the care he needs.
Vernon is in a stable condition but still in a lot of pain and cannot walk, said Coetzee.