Terri fought a brave fight
AFTER struggling with neurofibromatosis for 40 years, my wife Terri passed away at the age of 74 in Rustenburg on 20 May.
Over the years she underwent surgery twelve times for the removal of multiple brain tumours, but it was only in recent years that the cause of these growths was identified as a gene disorder which results in the growth of multiple brain tumours.
We met at Wits University in 1967 during an Italian lecture.
After graduating, she joined the SABC for a number of years before entering the newspaper world.
As a journalist at the Natal Witness, she covered stories across the Midlands until the travel bug bit her and she set sail for a couple of adventurous years in England and Switzerland.
It was during this time that she began losing her hearing and balance, and with it, her confidence.
Soon after her return, the first tumour was identified and removed, but it left her with no hearing in one ear, some facial paralysis and poor balance.
But she retained her fighting spirit and was determined to overcome the challenges.
We were married for just over a year when the second tumour was identified and the pattern was set. After another year or two another tumour presented itself.
Much of our time was spent in KwaMbonambi, with endless trips to specialists and hospitals in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg and Cape Town, where the fibromatosis was identified.
But still she fought on, even when she was totally deaf.
When she could, she continued to work at the University of Zululand and the Zululand Observer as a proofreader, while running her own editing business.
In July last year, one of the tumours became very aggressive. Trying to overcome the last surgery, the added stress and difficulties surrounding the Covid-19 lockdown proved to be insurmountable.