Cape Town - Her ordeal of surviving a deadly plane crash and being burnt across her body, inspired Annerie du Plooy to help other burn survivors cope with their own trauma.
For the past 11 years, Du Plooy has dedicated her life to burn victims whose voices and stories are often not heard, by starting the Hero Burn Foundation.
She said that every year, about 500 children under the age of 14 died in fires across the country, most of whom were too young to react or were asleep when it happened. Smoke inhalation, rather than burns, was the main cause of death.
Thembeka Sibanyoni was two years old when she was burnt by a fire inside her home during a thunderstorm. The child suffered third degree burns to her body during a thunderstorm.
She is one of the victims Du Plooy has helped.
In recent weeks, Du Plooy has been inundated with calls of fires across the country where children and adults have become victims during the festive season.
Her will to live and the legacy of her late husband, Henk Du Plooy, is what drives her and her faith.
“It is not me; I asked God why and He answered me. What I do is my calling and my purpose,” she told Weekend Argus.
“To me, burn victims do not have a voice, who can be there if they need that emotional, mental and physical support as often victims live in rural and impoverished areas where they do not have the technology we have, and their families are unable to visit them.
“It is providing airtime so they can call their families, or toiletries.
“When you are burnt, you change physically and emotionally. There is a personality change and there is no way of going back to a normal life and relationship.
“You have to have the will to live, to survive and to tell yourself you will be a survivor for the rest of your life.”
In 2008, Du Plooy’s life changed dramatically in an instant when the light aircraft she and her father in-law, Spencer Watson, and husband, Henk Du Plooy, were travelling in, crashed near Lephalale in Limpopo.
Watson died on impact but Du Plooy was trapped inside the inferno.
It was her husband who had saved her life, having shielded her from the flames.
Eleven days after the crash, Henk who sustained 75%, third degree burns to his body, died in hospital.
Du Plooy, the sole survivor, had 40% burns to her body.
“I was trapped inside and the plane was burning,” she said.
“My husband managed to get out but when he realised that I was inside, he came and took the debris off me and saved me; he helped me get out.
“We were drenched in jet fuel. We tried to get away from the plane. It was supposed to have been a scenic flight that day.”
In hospital, Du Plooy was sedated and ventilated: “I woke up three and half months after the incident.
“I had a lot of battles of my faith, for what I went through to help others.
“I saw the need of burn survivors. It is difficult for burn survivors to express themselves.
“Being a burn survivor, you have challenges and are disabled.”
She said she hosted burn runs which aimed at educating victims such as children who played around fires or were burnt.
“We see a new trend with load shedding – many house burns, electronics and houses that are burning. It has escalated,” she said.
As fire season is under way, Fire and Rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said their teams had been dispatched to various communities across Cape Town in the past few days, among them Hout Bay, Simon’s Town, Ottery Kenilworth, Sea Winds and Philippi.
“We want to appeal to the public to please be incredibly alert to the increased risk of fire, particularly if they are working with open flames or any flammable substances,” said Carelse.
“If you see anything that looks like it could be a fire, please report it and don’t assume that someone else has.”