Help Thapelo Recover from Nightmare Accident

Thapelo Haughton is my mother and best friend. On Tuesday, February 23rd I - along with the many that love and cherish her- would almost lose her once at the scene of a horrific accident, and another 3 times as she was being airlifted to the hospital.

Around 7pm that evening, my mom was on her way home after spending the day dogsitting her grandpuppies. Only 5 minutes after leaving my house, she was in a head-on collision with a truck hauling a large trailer on a 2-lane highway.  

She was left critically and almost fatally injured.  Her injuries include the following:

●Gash to the head- about 100 stitches used to reattach her scalp to her head
●Abrasions/deep cuts to the left hand and arm- stitches
●Abrasions/deep cuts to the right side of face
●Abrasions/deep cuts to the left leg- stitches
●Deep cut to the upper lip and glass left inside (right side)
●5 teeth knocked out, 1 cracked, 1 loose
●2 broken ankles
●1 shattered heel (right)
●1 broken leg & shattered knee (right)
●Broken pelvis
●1 fractured rib (right)
●1 broken wrist (right)
●1 broken shoulder (right)
●Cracked skull behind the ear
●Cracked skull on the forehead
●Trauma to the neck/ throat causing difficulty swallowing and turning (ligaments torn and strained)
●Severed liver
●Trauma to the pancreas

Outside of her physical injuries , she is dealing with PTSD that has increased her claustrophobia and has led to severe anxiety and multiple panic attacks daily. 

We are lucky that insurance covers most of these things. However, due to the pandemic our family cannot pull together the money needed to repair her face and teeth. 

Each tooth is estimated to cost $3000 a piece for her to get implants (this does not include having to repair her cracked tooth and pull the loose one). She is missing five teeth and this will cost about $15,000 out of pocket.  The accident has left her gums extremely sensitive, making it difficult to do simple things like eat and drink and even breathing causes an uncomfortable sensation to her nerves.

The facial reconstruction and skin graphing was quoted at a minimum of $26,000. She can't look at her reflection because she doesn't recognize herself and it's a painful reminder of her life as she knows it.  

We are grateful that my mom does not remember the accident that would alter her life and steal her confidence. She is completely dependent on us which is a feeling she hoped she would never know, at least not until old age.

Even with medication her body screams constantly with pain and discomfort.

Please help us make her the slightest bit more comfortable. Anything you donate would help. 

Thank you for taking the time to read about what happened to my mom. Please continue to pray and think positively about her physical and mental recovery. 


Here's a lovely photo of her face and smile before the accident. I hope this is the image you carry when you think of her.