James Kinnaird who has stage 3 colon cancer

Hi, my name is Quinton, and I am the son of James Kinnaird, who is 74 years old and resides in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. My dad has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon cancer (adenocarcinoma), and required an urgent double helicolectomy to remove the mass from his transverse colon and small intestine.

Over the last few months, my dad had experienced major blood loss, as a result of the tumour (unknown to us at the time), resulting in him requiring blood transfusions as his blood count was dangerously low. We were able to find blood in Zimbabwe (although there is a shortage of blood), however he continued to lose blood, and required more tests to determine the cause. Due to the challenges in the provision of medical treatment in Zimbabwe, we flew him to Johannesburg, South Africa, for a check up and treatment. Upon arrival on Sunday night, my brother Wesley was immediately concerned at the state of his health and drove him straight to the hospital from the airport, to have him attended to. The hospital advised he needed to be admitted urgently, or they feared the worst would occur. Colonoscopy and endoscopy confirmed the presence of a malignant tumour, and the doctor advised they operate as soon as possible to remove the tumor, as the cancer was aggressive, and my dad was also losing a lot of blood, with the added risk of a blocked colon.

The surgery was carried out successfully on September 29th, after which he remained in ICU for a period of 8 days, and in general ward for a further 5 days, before being discharged. My dad will require 6 months of Chemotherapy to remove the remaining cancer cells as the surgeon was not able to remove all during the surgery. As he is not on medical aid in South Africa, we have accrued a large medical bill of ZAR 538,522.98 (US $32,311.38 at todays exchange rate), and it is expected that Chemotherapy will cost an additional ZAR 100,000 (US $6,000.00). This is a cash payment that is required by the hospital and medical staff to complete my dad's treatment, and it is for this purpose that the funds will be used.