Feisty Frieda and the PinkDrive
On Sunday afternoon 30 May, the day of the Comrades, a freak accident happened just outside Howick in Natal. Two Harley Davidsons and two very special women were involved in this fateful crash – Frieda Henning and Elza de Klerk, who had both just ridden hundreds of kilometers to help promote breast cancer awareness in Kwazulu-Natal over a period of two weeks.
They were riding iconic Harley Davidsons through some of South Africa’s most beautiful countryside together with Karin Schoeman and Aileen Taylor (who managed to join them for a few days despite her hectic work schedule).
Breast cancer brought them together with the PinkDrive, an incredibly innovative breast cancer initiative headed by go-getter Noelene Kotschan.
The PinkDrive campaign is committed to promote breast cancer awareness and education. Their aim is to provide and offer much-needed breast cancer services to women across South Africa, particularly those who do not have access to information on breast health.
In support of the 85th Comrades Marathon, PinkDrive took their two stunning mobile pink mammogram vans on an educational journey through rural KZN. They invited Journey of Hope to ride along with them to create more awareness en route. And who could possible say “no” to such an opportunity? Unfortunately I couldn’t go along because of the severe effects of my chemotherapy, but it was with a heavy and envious heart that I bid them farewell at the Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto on the 19th of May.
PinkDrive and Journey of Hope share the same end goal: the promotion of breast health. Both of the organizations want the women of South Africa to be aware of the dangers of breast cancer and the fact that early diagnosis saves lives.
On the day of the Comrades Marathon, after many adventures, Elza and Frieda helped Noelene and the gang to wrap up and then the two of them decided to hit the road to Harrismith so that they could have an early start to Johannesburg on Monday morning.
Unfortunately nobody reckoned with South Africa’s worsening road conditions. As they took off from a stop street, Frieda hit a bump in the road and did not see the hug pothole behind it. Her Harley hit the pothole full-on and she came off to the left. Elza was right behind her. A car was coming from the front and much to Elza’s horror, she rode straight over Frieda, who was lying in the road. She says it was like a nightmare when she realized that she’s physically ridden over Frieda with a 250kg motorcycle!
Typical of Frieda, she insisted on calling nobody until they were at the hospital and knew more of less what problems they were dealing with.
As we all know now, Frieda has a ruptured liver that continued bleeding for many, many days and she’s not out of danger yet. In addition she’d cracked numerous ribs and also injured her spine. Elza has a fractured collar bone and some severe bruising, but she was lucky to get off with minor injuries.
Typical of the camaraderie that exists between Harley sisters on a ride, Elza refused to leave Frieda’s side until she was sure Frieda was safe and cared for. She also managed to keep us all updated on an hourly basis with regards to Frieda’s progress.
In the meantime, Karin was in Zululand where her darling sister had passed away unexpectedly the previous week. This brought Karin’s riding adventure with the PinkDrive on her fabulous BMW to an abrupt and very sad end. In between funeral arrangements and the grief that accompanies a family bereavement, Karin still found the time to show her compassion and concern for her riding buddies. I just want her to know that we appreciate it very much and that we really commiserate with her loss.
On Monday a bedraggled and bruised Elza arrived at our house in Johannesburg to stay the night. She had a strange tale to tell about her 1200cc Harley Davidson Sporty being locked up and held to ransom by an unscrupulous tow-in operator. We often hear stories like these and it again highlights the importance of good insurance and of making sure you have a good tow-in service.
During the last week I managed to visit dear Frieda a few times in Pietermaritzburg MediClinic. This is one gutsy woman, as you all know. She is rearing to go but, as we say in Afrikaans: ”Die gees is gewillig, maar die vlees is swak.”
She is still in a lot of pain and is desperate to get transferred to George hospital to be near her family. It is horrible to be alone at a time like this. Unfortunately Pietermaritzburg is not the easiest destination to get to. A few people like Frieda’s mom, Annette, and Noelene, Adri and Adele managed to cheer her up with a visit but I really hope that she is safely ensconced in George hospital by the time you read this.
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