Trinisha Can Breathe

Trinisha was born on the 30th of July 2008 and after her birth, she struggled to breathe on her own. At
2 weeks old she was diagnosed with bilateral vocal cord palsy and the doctors did a tracheostomy to
bypass the vocal cord palsy in order to allow air to pass through. The vocal cords are responsible for
producing your voice and for letting air in and out allowing you to breathe. Trinisha had bilateral
vocal cord palsy, which meant that her vocal cords were not moving normally in allowing air in and
out and therefore affected her breathing.
When Trinisha was small she wasn’t affected as being trachy dependent. As she grew older it was
difficult to understand her as her speech became affected. When Trinisha started school, she felt as
though she was different from the other children. She didn’t want to show her trachy in public as
she noticed that others would stare and it made her feel uncomfortable. Her mom treated her no
differently to her siblings and encouraged her to live her life to the fullest.
The doctors in Durban told her mom that Trinisha would have to live with the tracheostomy for the
rest of her life. Her mom refused to allow this fate for her daughter and did some research and came
across the Paediatric Airway Unit at Red Cross Children's Hospital. Prof Shazia Peer heads up the unit
and performs airway surgery for all kinds of upper respiratory conditions. Her mom then contacted
Prof Peer and she agreed to treat Trinisha. Trinisha’s quality of life changed within the first 6 months
of receiving treatment at the Red Cross Hospital. Wings & Wishes assisted the family with 22 flights.
Last year Trinisha had the reversal operation to successfully remove her tracheostomy.
Traveling from Durban to Cape Town would have been expensive for the family, but Wings and
Wishes assisted with every trip. The family is so grateful to them for their support and contribution.
The last step in the journey is for Trinisha to return to Cape Town for a skin graft on the scar on her
throat. For Trinisha new adventures await – dreaming of becoming a doctor and traveling the
world!