[gentle music].
My name is Wynand Odendaal.
I'm 62 years old.
I'm a heart patient.
I'm an activity, man.
I'm an adventurer.
I'm a surfer, mountaineer.
There's nothing that we Capetonian's don't do and enjoy, but
that was taken away from me due to my heart condition.
In the year of 2011, I had the mother of
heart attacks when my main aorta collapsed.
And the doctor that saved my life sent me home because he
could not do any surgery on me, I was that bad.
And they asked me to go home for three
months and see if I can recover.
During that time, I fell into a very, very dark hole,
a depression, I could hardly get out of my bed.
I could hardly walk.
The left side of my heart muscle completely collapsed.
And when I eventually went back
to the doctor there was an improvement
in my heart condition from up to 50%,
that was restored in my left heart.
The old lifestyle was gone and the new
lifestyle began, a total mental adjustment for me.
And every morning I got up and
had to take a handful of medicine.
To me, it was poison.
It wasn't easy to be a heart patient having
all the side effects of certain, of these products.
But life went on and we had to recover.
And then while on a trip from Port Elizabeth to
Durban from Cape Town, but in port Elizabeth
I was diagnosed with acute heart failure.
I was rushed back to Cape Town, to the heart
unit at Switzy hospital, where I was told that I was very sick.
I was not allowed to fly
anymore because I could get aneurysms.
So here I was back to
where I started a few years
before but in a worst condition.
My heart muscle was now 20%.
It dropped from 50 to 20% and my heart was enlarged.
I had water on the lungs.
I couldn't sleep at night.
And then finally an MRI scan in 2016 was made
in November, and they realized that I had months to live.
This was shocking news.
And then the story really began.
During this time, spending the last week at the resort
in the Western Cape, being driven back to
my home by a friend, I heard on the radio, Dr.
Gopal speaking on this new technology that he specializes
in where he helps patients with my disease.
I immediately contacted his office, gave him my MRI
and all my documentation for him to review.
He took my case because of the severity of my condition.
He immediately said to me I should
have been there five years ago.
I applied at my Medical Aid for assistance.
They refused.
And then I started a special appeal with my Medical
Aid, which they eventually approved months later.
They then willingly said they will pay my hospital and
doctor fees, but not the machine, the CHF machine.
CHF stands for Congestive Heart Failure Therapy System.
This is what I needed, and I needed one of
these machines ASAP Because I didn't have the money to
pay for this machine, I spoke to a friend, he said
to me, "Listen, I'm gonna phone a friend
that said to me if I ever need
help with CHF machines, call me."
This happened to be the CEO of Biotronik, South Africa.
Five minutes later, he donated me a machine.
An hour later his manager was
at the doctor, approved the operation, and
two weeks later, I was
scheduled to receive this wonderful
amazing product that changed my life.
Now it was time again to shout to the heavens.
There is hope.
My passive lifestyle suddenly became active again.
I could fry my meat.
I could go surfing.
I could walk the mountain.
I could really enjoy the things that were so important to
me and doing it with my friends and family.
So this was precious time for me that now, within
two days after my operation, I felt a new person.
I realized that I could sleep again.
There was 90% less water in my lungs.
I had a normal blood flow.
I had oxygen going through my body again.
I was energized, didn't have
to sleep in the afternoons anymore.
I now had the energy to actually dream more
dreams and attack life more aggressively
because I had oxygen and I was energized.
So life for me is very normal again.
I can preach again.
I can be my profession.
I can encourage others with the same need.
I can reach out to patients that are crying out for help
and encourage them and tell them that there is hope.
There's a chance that their lives can
be given back to them.
So from the bottom of my heart, I need to
thank everybody that was involved in allowing me
to have this last chapter of my life.
Dr. Gopal and his team, the Biotronik's
team, I say, thank you.
And when you have new hope and
you can do your activities again, you can
hike the mountains again, all the things
that you thought was not possible anymore.
You've already made the adjustment
that you cannot do this anymore.
Suddenly the hope of enjoying the benefits of
your sport activities is back in your life.
You cannot understand how wonderful that is to be able
to do this with your friends and family again.
New hope just for a new lifestyle.