THE woman in the photos taken years ago exudes energy and a love of life. It's clear Carol de Swardt was at her happiest in shorts and a T-shirt, soaking up the sun and having fun in the great outdoors.
In one picture she's in the back of a bakkie holding a fishing rod. In another she stands near the ocean, a beer in her hand.
"That woman is still here inside me. That's what makes it so bad, Carol says.
The life she used to love is a thing of the past. Since having her right leg amputated, she's been confined to a wheelchair and seldom goes to the beach. In fact, she's in so much pain she hardly goes anywhere. "I'm a living corpse," she tells us. "My left leg is wasting away and has open sores."
This no way to live, she says - and it's for this reason doctors at the Pegasos Clinic in Switzerland have agreed to help her to die. Everything is arranged and a date has been set: 31 January 2024 is the day her assisted suicide will take place.
Carol has no doubts or regrets, she says in an exclusive interview at her home in George in the Western Cape. "I don't want people to feel sorry for me."
There's definitely nothing pitiful about the 63-year-old. For eight years she fought a courageous legal battle and was ultimately successful in her bid to persuade the high court in Pietermaritzburg that she'd lost her leg due to medical negligence.
In 2020 the court found that after being diagnosed with squamous carcinoma, a common skin cancer, on both legs Carol was given excessive doses of radiation at Grey's Hospital in Maritzburg.
This resulted in "irreversible damage to her lower limbs", the court heard.
Her joints were so badly damaged one leg eventually had to be amputated.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة 30 November 2023 من YOU South Africa.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة 30 November 2023 من YOU South Africa.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
OUR BRAVE LITTLE FIGHTER
Like her late sister, little Elana was born with a rare lung condition and can't breathe without a ventilator, but her parents are walking this familiar path with courage and hope
DOUBLE JEOPARDY
With his new film, The Fall Guy, Ryan Gosling put stunt doubles centre stage but how hard is it for a complete amateur to master the trade? Journalist Simon Usborne decided to find out
INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE
Irish writer Cecelia Ahern chats to YOU about writing her novels in longhand, her love of Lego and looking forward to her first wine-tasting in South Africa
THE KIDS ARE NOT OKAY
Something happened around 2010 that's had a huge impact on Gen Z, says a new book. It was the start of the phone-based childhood, and it's resulted in a rewiring of kids' brains - and a surge in depression and anxiety
HE'S ON THE BALL
Despite having no lower legs, -Grayton's prowess on the rugby field has made him a social media star
THIS ISN'T JUSTICE
A woman was shot dead by her fiancé, who said he thought she was an intruder. Now her family believe he got off lightly
THE BOSS IN CHARGE OF YOUR CROSS
As chief electoral officer of the IEC, Sy Mamabolo has his hands full these days!
HEARTBREAK AND HOPE
Relatives and loved ones share their stories as rescue efforts continue for the people still trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building in George
BLOOMING!
Shes adored by fans and loathed by haters, but like the character she plays in her new movie, Anne Hathaway says shes putting her own Joy first
SUSSEXES' AFRICAN ADVENTURE
Meghan and Harry took Nigeria by storm – but relations with the royal family remain icy