S

HEblinkseverynowand

thenbutherbigbrown

eyesaremostlyclosedand

frombeneathherbeaniea

scarcurlsacrossherfore-

headand down to her

brow.

TayliëJaaplooksfragile:

shewalksslowlyandspeakssoftly–all

signsofthetraumaherbodyhasen-

duredsincethatnightmaretwomonths

ago.

“It’sirritatingthatI can’topenboth

eyesatthesametime,”the19-year-old

says.“ButthedoctorsaysI mustbepa-

tientandwaitfortheswellingonmy

braintogodown.”

Taylië– orLalaasherlovedonescall

her– madeheadlineswhenshefellfrom

a second-storeywindowoftheSerruria

First-year

microbiolo-

gy student

Taylië Jaap

is recover-

ing from her

fall from

a second-

storey

window

of her res

in Stellen-

bosch,

Western

Cape

(BELOW).

I STOOD

BEFORE GOD

residence on the campus of Stellenbos

University in the Western Cape o

26 May (YOU, 20 June).

The first-year BSc microbiology st

dent, who was staying at the hostel, f

on her head and sustained serious inj

ries in the baffling fall during the ear

hours of the morning.

Her recovery has been littered wit

frustrations – her eye problem foremo

• but she’s willing to do what it takes to
  recover so she can resume her studies.
  “I’ll go back – even if I have to sit in
  class like this,” she says as she widens her
  right eye with a concentrated effort.
  We’re speaking to Taylië and her adop-
  tive mother, Charmaine Leonard – or
  Atta, as she calls her – in a shopping mall
  in Cape Town. It’s the first time since her
  fall that the young woman is venturing

outinpublic.

She’s doing well “although she com-

plained of being tired earlier”, Char-

maine (55) says.

She’s also been through the wringer

since receiving the news of her daugh-

ter’s fall.

Doctors at Stellenbosch Hospital gave

Taylië’s loved ones three hours to say

goodbye to her.

Two months

after Taylië

nearly died

when she fell

7m from

a hostel

window, she

recalls how

her life flashed

before her

eyes and she

saw heaven

BY MARELIZE GRBICH

20 | 8 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za