Picture on the left was taken a few years ago, with Siya Kolisi and me at the Sandton Sun Hotel where I am the resident pianist.
The Reach for a Dream Foundation is a Non-Profit organization that helps children with life threatening diseases to achieve their life dreams.
This wonderful foundation helped a young girl, Isabella, who has soft tissue sarcoma type cancer, to realize her special dream of a lifetime, to meet the South African Springbok Rugby Captain, Siya Kolisi.
Siya, being the wonderful larger than life South African icon, graciously fell in with what was to transpire on Saturday 28 September 2024, when the Springboks played Argentina at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Isabella's paediatric oncologist, Dr Rema Mathew, knowing what this meant to her patient, contacted the Reach for a Dream Foundation and the rugby ball rolled right into the hands of the Springboks, and more especially Siya Kolisi, their captain.
Rachel Kolisi, Siya's wife, (also a philanthropist in her own right), knew before Siya, about the TV interview that Isabella was giving and even though she had been sworn to secrecy to not tell Siya, she did. Isabella's interview was followed by a heartwarming response from Siya, telling her how excited he was to meet her on the Saturday of the important rugby match. He told her that if she was nervous to meet him, not to worry, as he is always nervous before a match and her running onto the field with him would give him extra courage.
It was so amazing to see Siya, running onto the field holding Isabella's hand tightly. The crowd in the stadium had no idea who this young lady was and everyone sang the South African National Anthem with true style South African gusto, as Isabella stood next to Siya.
Isabella and her family watched the game in the stadium, after which, the young lady returned to where the Springbok team were celebrating their win and she was given the honor of handing over The Rugby Championship Trophy by our Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie to Siya, to a thunderous applause from the packed stadium of almost 45 thousand rugby fans and watched by countless millions worldwide,
This of course, included my family and me.
The link below shows Isabella receiving the Reach for a Dream Foundation letter, followed by Siya's impassioned reply.
I took the liberty of taking the video from Siya's FB page, so credits to FB.