Young girl severely injured, we bring her home

2006/03/16

While on holiday in idyllic Mauritius, a nine-year-old South African girl sustained multiple fractures during a fall. She was taken to the Mediserve Medical Clinic and treated for amongst other things shock, fractures and severe grazing on her arm.

The brave young girl, Caetlyn Stegmann, had to endure daily cleaning of her arm as it could not be put in a cast because of the severity of the graze. Caetlyn’s parents simply wanted to get their youngster home and to a local hospital and this was where the skills of the Europ Assistance South African (EASA) staff stepped in.

The case manager was Elton Pepping who co-ordinated the flights from Mauritius, obtained medical reports and generally assisted in whatever way he could.

“The family was really desperate to get the little girl home, but the process was a little more complicated than was expected,” explains Elton. “The girl’s family, her dad, mom and sister Ashley also had to return to South Africa. There were further complications in that the young girl had to be placed on a stretcher on the flight, to ensure minimal stress on her injuries.”

The treating doctor at the hospital in Mauritius went out of his way to ensure that Caetlyn was given the best treatment and took a leading role in getting her safely on board the outward bound flight that Elton organised for her. The doctor also arranged for a Mauritius-based trauma nurse to accompany the girl and her father in the business class flight back to SA.

In addition to the flight home that had to be organised, EASA also arranged for an ambulance transfer from the airport in Kempton Park, to Sunninghill Hospital in Sandton and this was where another section of EASA stepped in. Skhumbuzo Nyoni, one of the EASA dispatchers, arranged for an ambulance to meet the family and take Caetlyn to Sunninghill hospital.

Back in SA, Daryl Stegmann, Caetlyn’s father called and thanked the whole team for the hard work in getting his family back home.

“You guys were absolute stars!” he said in closing.