An inspiring Mid South-Coast philanthropist Bill Wedderburn (90) who recently completed a 900 kilometres charity walk for Covid-19 patients was honoured with a medal of appreciation by Netcare Kingsway Hospital, a place where he recovered from the virus.
Wedderburn was diagnosed with Covid-19 in January 2021. Living with a chronic kidney disease and being a prostate cancer survivor, Wedderburn was considered high risk. However the dedicated medical fraternity did everything they could to ensure recovery during his two-week hospitalisation. It was during his stay that he learned of the death of a 36 year-old nurse, Hlengiwe Mbeje an employee of Nectar Kingsway Hospital.This tragedy was a start of his fundraising charity drive for the families of healthcare workers who succumbed to Covid-19.
“I spoke to my family about what we could do to make a difference and I decided to commit to walking 900km before my 90th birthday in June, to mark each decade of my life as a fundraising initiative.I stuck to doing an average of 3.8 kilometre per day and continued to walk even when I visited my family in the United Kingdom. I’m excited that R90 000 was raised in donations to the non-profit fund that I have established for Covid-19 patients,” he said.
General Manager at Netcare Kingsway Hospital Annatjie Demetriou said Wedderburn’s efforts to support health care workers affected by Covid-19 was touching and worthy of recognition.
“Bill Wedderburn is a truly remarkable human being and we felt that he deserved nothing short of a medal for what he has achieved. We were therefore overjoyed to present him with a medal of appreciation inscribed with the words ‘900km for Nurses’.“We hope that this token of our gratitude expresses how meaningful Mr Wedderburn’s commendable initiative has been for us all here at Netcare Kingsway Hospital,” said Demetriou.
