I was only 9 years old when a car accident changed my life forever, leaving me with injuries so severe that I would spend the next 32 years fighting a battle most people will never see. My name is Mari van Vuuren, and I live in South Africa. In 1994, my life changed forever when I was involved in a devastating car accident. I spent nearly 18 months in hospital recovering from catastrophic injuries to my lower abdomen and pelvic area. Doctor’s best description is that I was torn in two. As a result of the accident, I lost my rectum and vagina. I now live with a permanent stoma bag and a suprapubic catheter – medical realities that became part of my life before I was even a teenager. Over the past 32 years, I have undergone 113 operations. Each surgery brought hope, but also fear, pain, and uncertainty. My body has endured more than I could ever have imagined as a child. Because of my long and complex medical history, no private medical aid in South Africa is willing to insure me. This leaves me completely dependent on government healthcare services. While I am grateful that these services exist, navigating the system is becoming more exhausting and often its a discouraging battle. My daily life is a constant struggle with complications: hernias pushing through my almost non existent abdominal wall, abscesses and leakages in my abdomen, and recurring, sometimes severe infections.
At this very moment, I am still waiting for a much needed operation to treat a growing abscess that continues to cause pain and concern. Living with a stoma is something very few people understand unless they experience it themselves. I consider myself a positive person, but there are moments that test even the strongest spirit. Only a stoma patient can describe the deep despair of realizing you are on your last bag, with no reserve left. These are not items you can simply live without. During some of those desperate moments, friends and family have stepped in to help me buy the supplies I needed, helping me maintain not only my health but also my dignity.
I was introduced to Footprints for Africa. Footprints 2 Africa has made sure that I had the supplies I needed when I had nowhere else to turn. Their support meant more than just medical supplies, it meant relief, hope, and the ability to focus on my health without the constant fear of running out of essential equipment. When you are fighting infections, trying to convince overwhelmed health authorities that you urgently need hospitalization, and living with daily pain, worrying about whether you will have a stoma bag tomorrow is a burden no person should have to carry.
Often we pass people in the street with visible disabilities – a prosthetic leg or a metal arm. We can see their challenges and we naturally feel compassion. But living with a stoma bag or a permanent catheter is an invisible reality. No one sees it. And yet, there are far more people living with conditions like mine than most of the world will ever realize. Sharing my story is not easy. There are days when simply getting out of bed takes tremendous strength. But if my story can help create awareness for those living with invisible medical challenges, then every word is worth it.
Footprints 2 Africa continues to support Mari and in April 2026, Mari was given all the supplies she needed to keep going for another year.
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