Page 19 - Waterfall City MayJune Issue 2026

SPECIALISED CARE

A triumph over tragedy
T he medical care in the

immediate aftermath of a
head injury, combined with
rehabilitation therapies in
the weeks that follow, can make
all the difference in the life of
the survivor – particularly when
a child’s future is at stake.

“We never thought something like
this could happen. The accident came
without warning. Another vehicle hit
us at high speed. We were far from
home, as we had been visiting friends
in Mpumalanga,” recalls Megan Hefer,
of Fochville, Gauteng.

Three-and-a-half-year-old Hannah-
Grace Hefer’s life hung in the balance
following a tragic car accident in the
first week of 2026 that cut short the
life of her devoted father and left her
mother, Megan, with an injured arm
and eye.

“At the scene of the accident,
Hannah-Grace’s eyes were fixed and
unfocused: I knew that was a bad
sign,” Megan recalls.

“Hannah-Grace was in such a bad
way, we hardly dared to hope for
the kind of recovery she has made,”
recalls Dr Palesa Monyake, paediatric
intensivist at Netcare Waterfall City
Hospital’s specialised paediatric
intensive care unit.

Yet, just over two months after the
accident, the little girl described as a
‘go-getter’, is returning to her lively,
active self and surpassing everyone’s
expectations for a recovery after
“Hannah-Grace was in such a bad way, we hardly dared to hope for the kind of recovery she has made.” brain injury.

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