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A Battle Lost?

Written by TVSA Team from the blog 3rd Degree on 23 Oct 2007
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Tonight on 3rd Degree:

Episode Title: A Battle Lost?
Broadcast Date: 23 October, 2007

Early this year, 3rd Degree brought you the story of 19-year-old Hermina Rakgoale from Hammanskraal. Hermina had a rare metabolic disorder that caused her to gain weight at an abnormal rate.

When 3rd Degree first met her, she weighed a staggering 360 kilograms and was bed-ridden. She could not go to school, go out with her friends or even bath herself.

Despite obesity having been declared by the World Health Organisation as a chronic illness, Hermina’s medical aid refused to pay for gastric by-pass surgery that would help reduce her weight and she was left to die.

Helpless and desperate her parents got in touch with 3rd Degree. And only after the story was aired did her medical aid agree to pay for Hermina’s life saving surgery. Hermina responded favourably to the surgical procedure and her weight began to disappear almost immediately. Within three months she had lost over 60 kilograms.

But last month something went horribly wrong and Hermina died in hospital. Did her medical aid respond too late or is the hospital to blame for her sudden and mysterious death?

3rd Degree investigates.

Tags: Other Teasers

30 Comments

boogy-babe!
23 Oct 2007 01:57

Wow she died!!!thats a shocker i last heard about her when her medical aid finally agreed to pay,damn.

Kakapana
23 Oct 2007 02:00

it's so sad that she has died, i was following her story hoping that one day she'll be able to look back to the days she used to be overweight. but unfortunately that was not to be.

boogy-babe!
23 Oct 2007 02:06

Same here Kakapana i thot we wud see the before & after pictures.For interest sake i wonder how big was her casket...?!?!

Miss K
23 Oct 2007 02:17

Sometimes we shouldn't try to play God. Who knows what might have happened if shee never went for the surgery? A longer life maybe? God doesn't create mistakes people.

sponono
23 Oct 2007 02:21

BOOGY-BABE her casket must have been normal becoz she had lost lot of weight isnt it???

belz
23 Oct 2007 02:24

Auuw, shame, eish mara these medical aids, hayi ah? what do they cover kahlekahle, iflu kuphela?

boogy-babe!
23 Oct 2007 02:31

Yeah maybe ke Sponono.

PhlyLady
23 Oct 2007 02:34

shame man the gal died? Unbelievable!! maybe she didnt respond well to the surgery was never meant to be that she do it!! May her soul rest in peace

Xhosa Chick
23 Oct 2007 02:39

Ongelooflik! (Am learning a thing or two from Oubass)
Shame, man, thats terrible. Didnt know about the story. Am gonna watch it

ting
23 Oct 2007 02:51

bathong o tlhokofetse,poor thing! the medical aid is prob relieved!

tshepiso
23 Oct 2007 05:11

her medical aid is to be blamed if they did act faster she would have loose enough weight and survive. the parents too is on the blame, if the medical aid refuse to pay they should have take to a public hospital.
shame I saw her coffin this morning on e-tv
hei!!!!!!!! it was been pulled and pushed by more than 30 people.

Toodecent
23 Oct 2007 05:16

Oh bathong she died..? Shame I watched the first episode and I hoped all was going to be well.

Lady D
23 Oct 2007 05:21

A a robale ka kgotso!!!

myname
23 Oct 2007 05:29

shame guys

JabuSA
23 Oct 2007 05:41

Medical Aids are useless with their very limited funds that get exhausted very fast.

haleboner
23 Oct 2007 06:26

Oooh Shame that's horrible I remember that beautifuly lady, may her soul rest in peace.

Kakapana
24 Oct 2007 02:20

it was very sad when you heard her speaking about wanting to bath and go to the toilet by herself (things that we take for granted) she was looking forward to doing that and going to parties...just goes to show that she was just a normal teenager wanting to have some fun.

zandii!!
24 Oct 2007 02:25

that was so sad i was very hurt watchin her and she was pretty too theres no one to blame hermina was gonna have complications in any case she was tooo much honestly bt ke may her soul rest in peace pretty lady

sponono
24 Oct 2007 02:56

mantombazane yehlisani ukutya ubomi bunzima ..imagine having this rare metabolic disorder and adding to it by eating too much uzoba yibaloon and then ube istatistic....so pliz stay away from the street-wise and yekelani uku-thosa ...I'm not being insenstive but I'm being realistic...and as for these supposedly "loving" parents who let their kids eat anything they want and excusing it for "no she's got baby fat" or "udla konke umntanam..akanankinga" wait till your child keeps ballonning and you wont know that you are overfeeding a child that might even have a metabolic problem anyway...and then these diabetes 1.that affects obese kids..so please espesh single mothers dont overcompensate by feeding kids whenerva and whateva they need....mncintshe..tough love is good love

Kakapana
24 Oct 2007 03:24

true dat spo, i was also thinking why do they (her parents) continue feeding her junk food if they see that she's getting worse. she said her fav food are: burgers, chips,and all these junk foods,and 2 make it worse her mother was sneaking in chips and sweets into her room. i'm not blaming da parents b-coz they'll say 'they did it out of love" but tough love is indeed true love.

Kakapana
24 Oct 2007 03:26

kodwa phela nami bafana niyadla we Spo, usamkhumbula u tsekeleke and did u c dat fat white boy on da show yesterday. so ukusithina nje kuphela amantombazane.

Renegade
24 Oct 2007 05:50

I jsut think its hard to draw a line spo. I mean,some ppl are that big without even having metabolic disorders. Mina i'm not small, not big either, but i used to be really skinny some years back, and i ask myself how i let myself get this big(i'm not that big, but i'm bigger than i was).
So when i c an obese person, i cant help but wonder how a person let themselves get that big, and yet nami i dont know how it happened.
I dont know if i'm making sense.
As for Hermina yena, may her soul rest in peace, I must say though, she was really pretty, and i liked how, although she was bed ridden, she still looked good bed ridden...she was always nicely dressed, and her hair was on point....thats the spirit

MADENZA
24 Oct 2007 05:59

Watched the show last night and i must say it was touching show.
- i followed the story from the start by the way i am a loyal 3rd Degree viewer, must say the medical aid took a long time to act so we can blame them.

sponono
24 Oct 2007 07:04

u're right Kakapana..I read somewhere that they had to find a whole chicken for Tsekeleke somewhere in one of his concerts and dont get me started on L'vovo

u're right Renegade...somehow you loose track of time and you lose loose focus on your phyical attributes, maybe becoz you arent getting ill often or dont suffer from anything so you feel ok and you're busy focusing on other aspects of your life and the only time where you actually look at you physical change is when you either have to take part in something physicaly demanding or when you've hooked up with sumone very healthy and fit and they make you look at yourself...or when you've got less issues or stuff in yo life to deal with THEN you go DAMN I didnt realise my Mkhabisto has gone this big or that I cant run as fast as I used to or I cant believe I've gotten this fat..... otherwise half the time we're not aware that our eating habits are slowly damaging us

Khahly
02 Jan 2008 15:11

Hello ALL!
Saw the story this morning and was touched! I dont think that anyone is to blame. Modimo o ne a kadimile....and yanong o latile!
Thats how life is.........!
Ever wonder what wouldv happened if she hadn't had the surrgery?
Maybe she still wouldv passed on!
All I'm sayin is that Hermina's purpose in life.....MAYBE>>>>was to touch our lives in a different way.......to make us away that the little things that we take 4 granted are actually very special gifts from a greater power.......GOD!
I think she was sent to make us aware of the dangers and avoid them....to use all the gifts we been given wisely and appropr8ly and take care of ourselves!
Pleas respond!
Would like to know what tmy response tells u!

J-Girl
03 Jan 2008 03:32

may her soul rest in Peace!

Nanana
03 Jan 2008 03:36

That gal was obese but damn she was so beautiful,I loved the fact that she wnt to great strides to make herself nice,the manicure,pedicure.She was a stunner.May her soul rest in peace

TEBZA_R
03 Jan 2008 04:06

That story was really touching.....And again it was like an eye opener to me because I am busy paying too much on medical aid and I did not ask them first when I was taking that medical aid which desease are covered....That lady's parent were members of Well known medical scheme and they were turned down by the medical aid when they needed it help most.....That show made me be aware of so many things regarding my medical aid....Now I have even changed to another option that I think if will help in future.....bathong this sales persons ba batla commission and they don't go to detailswhen selling this options to their client and most of the time we client are just clueless.....
May her soul rest in peace.........That show wanted to expose this kind of treatment that we get from this expensive medical schemes........