UPDATE: 19-year-old Kamogelo gets his face back
Good Morning Angels assisted 19-year-old Kamogelo with life-saving surgery to remove a cancerous tumour growing towards his brain.
Nineteen-year-old Kamogelo was in a race against time to save his life.
A cancerous tumour in his upper jaw was growing towards his brain and needed to be removed urgently.
A similar tumour had been removed from his jaw at a state hospital in Emalahleni last year. This required the removal of bone and teeth in his upper jaw.
After many trips between state hospitals in Emalahleni and Pretoria, a private doctor assisted in building him a proper mouth plate with dentures.
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However, the tumour had not been removed completely and was growing back, even more aggressively.
Kamogelo's mom, Jane Mokwena, reached out to Sister Kraai Cilliers for assistance, as she had exhausted all other options to save her child’s life.
The theatre, prosthetics, and hospital time needed for this intricate but urgent surgery came at a cost of R350,000.
They started raising the funds, but with time against them, Sister Kraai reached out to Good Morning Angels for assistance.
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On Wednesday, 8 October, Good Morning Angels, with the help of Caring Daisies and We Buy Cars, assisted Kamogelo with R150,000 towards his surgery.
After the initial R350,000 was raised for Kamogelo on Good Morning Angels, the operation was scheduled for Monday, 13 October.
When the doctors saw him in theatre, they discovered that the tumour had grown so quickly that it would be a much bigger operation than expected.
They then sent him home, and another R350,000 had to be raised.
After even more Angels got involved, they were finally able to operate on him.
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Following a surgery lasting more than eight hours, the tumour was completely removed with clean margins.
The reconstruction was also a success.
He already has implants and will receive his new teeth in two months.
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Images: Jacaranda FM