You South Africa – 08 August 2019

Taylië and mom Charmaine Leonard met

YOU at a shopping mall in Cape Town. It was

her first time out in publicsincethefall.

sudokuanddoingbrainexercisesas

well as exercising her left hand to

strengthen it.

Her speedy recovery has surprised her

doctors and therapists, Taylië says.

“Sometimes my occupational thera-

pist will just sit and stare at me because

she can’t believe how well I’m doing.”

S

HE’S clearly a fighter – after all,

this isn’t the first challenge

she’s had to face in her life.

Taylië and her older brother

Rual’s mother, Alicia, was a

single mom. In 2011, a year

after the family of three moved from

Lambert’s Bay on the West Coast to

Delft, Cape Town, Alicia was the victim

of a vicious attack.

She suffered a stroke as a result, para-

lysing her left side and affecting her

speech.

Charmaine and her husband, Hein

(46), took Alicia in to care for her and

when she passed away in 2016, the cou-

ple legally adopted Taylië.

Many rumours did the rounds after

Taylië’s fall – including that she’d had a

vision of her mother which had caused

her to jump.

“It’s not true,” she says.

Another rumour is that she went crazy,

ripped off her clothes and jumped out

the window.

She shakes her head. She doesn’t want

to dwell on the negativity, she says. All

she wants is to focus on her recovery.

“I’ve had enough of crying and feeling

sad.”

The day before our interview, police

went to see Taylië with questions about

that night. When she’s ready, she’ll have

to make a formal statement but she

wants to recover first.

The only thing she knows for sure

about her future is that she wants to re-

turn to university as soon as possible.

“I’m hungry for success,” Taylië says. “I

won’t let this thing get me down.

“After all, I got a second chance.

“I don’t know why – maybe I’m going

to be the first female president of South

Africa!”

SSiyabulela Malo, a Western Cape po-

lice spokesman, says the case is still

under investigation. S

CORRIE HANSEN, EDREA DU TOIT/RAPPORT

If there had been noreactionfromher

within that timeframe,shewould’ve

been declared brain dead.

Charmaine becomesemotionalasshe

relives that day. “WhenI gotthereshe

was icy cold already.I didn’tthinkshe’d

make it.

“I called my pastorandhearrived

within the hour. He prayedforherand

blessed her. Then suddenlylifereturned

to her.”

 C

ERTAIN partsoftheeventsof

that fatefulnightarestillun-

clear to Taylië– suchaswhy

she was completelynaked

when shewasfoundonthe

ground outside.

“She can’t recall thatpartatall,”Char-

maine says.

Taylië, a former headgirlatSchoon-

spruit secondary schoolinMalmesbury

doesremember arriv

aroundmidnight afters

inginthe Neelsies

’dgone to visit

m– and whath

t remains a myst

When I hitthe

ne,”Taylië says.“J

Butshe hasa viv

hatshe thinkswa

I had flashbacks

e and with eachfl

kedGod toforg

enthe time Isto

omthe table whe

tle.”

Eventually shef

erself in frontof

nd although

ouldn’t seeHim

alled her by he

name, TayliëCha

dréJaap, she says.

“He told meI h

todo – I had tote

tionHe was comi

When shewo

hospital dayslate

edand disorient

ciallyasshe thought

beeninheaven.

“It was nice there,”s

was happy.”

A renewed awareness

what helped her throug

lowing weeks whensh

lot of pain, she says.

“My back hurt, myhe

arm... At one pointI

linMalmesbury,

vingatthe res

she’dbeenstudy-

studentcentre.

a friendinher

happenedafter

ery.

e groundI was

Just gone.”

vidmemoryof

asheaven.

ofmyentire

flashbackI

giveme–

ole bread

en I was

found

fGod

she

m,He

er full

amon-

ad work

ell thena-

ingsoon.”

oke upin

er she was

ted– espe-

she’djust

he says.“I

sofGodis

gh thefol-

e wasina

eadhurt,my

said, ‘Lord,

please just take me now because the

pain is too much’.”

Apart from her serious head injury, she

also hurt her right wrist in the 7m fall,

although she’s since had surgery and the

wrist is healing well. A few of her verte-

brae had shifted but doctors were able to

reposition them.

A fortnight after the accident, Taylië

also had to say goodbye to her long locks.

Two nurses had been washing her hair

when they discovered another wound at

the back of her head.

“One gasped and I wondered what was

going on. Was I dying?” Her hair had to

be cut so the wound could be properly

treated.

After about a month in Tygerberg Hos-

pital in Cape Town, where she’d been

transferred from Stellenbosch Hospital,

Taylië was transferred to a hospice in

nearby Karl Bremer Hospital.

There she’s spent her days playing

ing

She

roo

that

“W

gon

B

wh

“

life

ask

ev

fro

litt

he

an

co

ca

n

d

t

t

h

confuse

you.co.za 8 AUGUST 2019 | (^21)
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