‘Passionate, selfless’ Sindi van Zyl hailed at memorial service
Family and friends hailed the life of physician, radio DJ and health activist Dr Sindi van Zyl at a private memorial service on Thursday.
Van Zyl was known as the people's doctor for her work educating and preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission.
She passed away on 10 April after being diagnosed with Covid-19 in February.
Her death left many South Africans in shock, including those she assisted with medical advice on social media.
Van Zyl was remembered as a passionate, selfless doctor who was lovedby her patients.
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"Sindi would do a lot of free medical consultations on social media and when she did public health. She worked day and night. Sindi did not sleep,” said her friend Lerato Masemola.
“Night-time she was there answering emails, Twitter messages and on her timeline, mostly about HIV, headaches and which medication to take to give those in need medical advice.”
Her two kids, Nandi (13) and 9-year-old Manie, whom she referred to as the Caramellos, paid a humorous tribute to their mom.
"We always used to watch new shows on Netflix or Showmax, we always used to watch them together, even on a school night," said Manie.
"I remember when we went to Sun City and me and Manie thought she couldn't swim but then she jumped into the water and proved us wrong. She loved to surprise people like that," added Nandi.
