Life can sometimes be really hard. Therein lies the making of a Diamond.
Marinda de Vos’ story began Jan 2013 as she left for India on a Tourism Roadshow.
In Jan 2014 she woke up virtually blind after a massive haemorrhage behind both eyes. No sight in her right eye and 20% blurred sight in her left eye. Marinda contracted TB in India and as a Type I diabetic, the veins behind her eyes were already fragile. The TB medication raised the oxygen levels so high, that it caused the haemorrhage. Both retina’s detached and the blood seeped into the white of her eyes. Causing nearly instant blindness.
Marinda and Marius de Vos moved from one ophthalmologist to another. All had the same refrain: “No medical aid? Sorry nothing we can do for you.”
Then came a ray of hope. Dr Ari Ziskend at Tygerberg Hospital gave her the great news: “You are perfect candidate for a Vitrectomy. Come back on 13 Aug and see the surgeon.”
Which we did. Only to have that last flicker of hope crushed: “Sorry. Nothing we can do for you. Go home. See the Society for the Blind. You will never see again … next please …”
Marinda was crushed. A firm believer with great faith, she rolled over and played dead, accumulated her Insulin. She was not going to go into 2015 blind.
On 31 Aug 2014 Marinda and Marius attended a healing service in Stellenbosch. Her question was: “God, do You hear me?” She even wore white, so that God would see her!
In the middle of the service, the pastor, who just landed the night before from America, said: “There is a lady sitting down, with a white blouse and glasses. She has a problem with her eyes. One worse than the other and it’s the second time this morning God is telling me about her. Can you put up your hand please?”
“God says: Yes, He can hear you. Question is, Can you hear Him. You have His song in you. He will show you the way.”
That right there, is Marinda’s Defining Moment. The making of a Diamond.
This did not instantly restore her sight. It did restore her hope.
In Dec 2014 Marinda met Dr Johann Krüger of the Tygervalley Eye and Laser Clinic. The leading Ophthalmologist in Cape Town. He was willing to be an instrument in God’s hands and operate on Marinda, even though she had no medical aid.
“Dr Krüger restored my sight and gave me hope. We formed the Gift of Sight Trust and now, we are working together to eliminate avoidable blindness in people just like me. Who cannot afford medical aid and can’t be helped by State Hospitals.”
Marinda says: “It is only through the support of companies such as The Diamond Works, that we can extend a hand of help and give the #GiftofSight. The Diamond Works are helping us to help #DiamondsintheMaking. A very fitting partnership.”
Please visit the Gift of Sight website for more information http://giftofsighttrust.org/