Message from Conrad's father
Good day, my name is Pieter Otto, and I am the Father of Conrad Otto, a 12-year-old boy in Bergland Primary School in Nelspruit, South Africa. Conrad is attending a normal school, and he is an active rugby player and also competes in shotput with normal kids. Imagine being 10 years of age with your life in front of you and your greatest dream is to become a Springbok
rugby player. You play for the A and B teams of your school because you have a never-ending passion for rugby. Now imagine you wake up one morning in December, and suddenly all of that seems to be lost, as you can not do the simplest of things, like reading your textbook before school, or you can suddenly not see anything on your cellphone, or you must stand very close to the TV to be able to see. After 3 operations, you, as an 11-year-old boy, are told by a Specialist nothing can be done for you, and you are legally blind. Luckily there is a special type of glasses called E-Sight that can help you do normal schoolwork, but you need R135 000.00 to have a sort of normal school day and not depend on readers and writers. Conrad competes in sports, rugby, and shotput with normal kids and plays rugby for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th teams of the school. The school phoned me at the beginning of the year and informed me that they overheard Conrad saying to another child that he was very unhappy and struggled to see and always made fun of and always had to depend on others to help him. The teacher was shocked when she informed me that he told the other boy that he thinks it will be better if he killed himself and was dead, I can not even imagine what it must be like for a 12-year-old boy not to be able to see and do things normal kids do. It breaks my heart when my son comes to me in tears because he can not see the board in the class, and everyone must help him to do his work. I am the only breadwinner in my household as my wife is also a legally blind disabled person that does not get any income. My medical aid does not cover this device, and I need to pay it in full before Conrad can get it. PLEASE assist my son to be able to live a full life. Him getting these glasses will improve his life 100%, and he will be able to go to a university and and and.... the possibilities are endless. The funds will all go towards buying the E-sight glasses.