OFF THE RECORD #18

Wheelchair Warriors: RamCat Fish brings joy to the disabled

"The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved." - Mother Teresa.

On 31 March, a group of men – perhaps also a few women, will convene in the Durban View Room at Greyville for an infrequent and long-awaited day out. If all goes to plan, there will be up to 60 individuals – 30 in wheelchairs and their 30 helpers, hosted by RamCat Fish, a charity organisation dedicated to the disabled, and specifically those who are wheelchair-bound. They hosted similar events at Turffontein in 2021, 2022 and 2023. All were well attended and enjoyed.

Retired businessman Gerard Smal, who manages the charity from his home in Moteng, Lesotho, said there was room for more guests at the Greyville meeting. He hopes his marketing will reach disabled individuals who have never been to the races. “The fee is just R30 per person and R180 for their helpers, and we can assist people based in Durban with transport to and from the track.”

Above: RamCat Fish's Gerard Smal

RamCat Fish was established in 2007 after Smal, a Rotarian, delivered food to a centre for the homeless in Pretoria, and was introduced to three South African war veterans who had lost various limbs in battles fought during the border wars of the 1970s and 1980s.

A former infantryman himself, but one who was fortunate to survive the bloody skirmishes in Mozambique, Angola and the old Rhodesia, Smal knew of the horrors they had been through. On further investigation, he realised how war veterans had been effectively marginalised by the old National Party government and later just ignored by the those posing as public servants in the new regime.

“Aside from a small pension, like R1,500 per month and some basic services at One Military hospital, there has been no assistance of any kind. There is not a Minister, not a Brigadier, not a General in this land willing to help with ordinary things like finding or building these veterans a home. There are no facilities for paralysed or disabled veterans, or amputees. Zero. There is not a single state-sponsored home that caters to them, and no trauma counselling at all. The nightmares they experienced are not just dealt with in a few days. Most exist in lifelong pain, anguish and mental stress.”

Smal named his charity, ‘RamCat Fish’ because fishing is the single activity that people in wheelchairs can perform more or less as well as they did before they were paralysed. Fishing excursions are RamCat’s most popular activity. There are fishing locations that cater to the needs of disabled people, like Pretoria’s Irene Country Lodge.

Above:  RamCat Fish excursion

“Most people in wheelchairs are males. The reason for this is that most paralysing injuries occur when boys, or men, are between 16 and 24 years of age. Those are the ‘show-off’ ages when they dive into shallow swimming pools to impress girls and some break their necks; or when they ride their motorbikes or drive their cars so recklessly that crashes and injuries occur. Most girls are not that adventurous in their early lives, and thankfully so. And another strange thing – statistically, people normally lose or suffer injuries to their left feet.”

Smal said that he deals with people who are paralysed from the neck down, or from the waist down, due to injuries obtained in everyday life. However, the war vets who had their legs blown off are the saddest cases. “There is one man I met recently, he picked up a rare disease whilst inactive in his wheelchair. It’s an infection, a bug that eats at his spine like a worm eats a leaf. I looked into his eyes and I wanted to burst out in tears. The sorry state of his whole being was reflected in his eyes, and they asked, ‘why me’?"

“Some of the foot soldiers stepped on landmines in Angola, where the warfare was conducted by terrorists. They used methods which were then unconventional. South Africans at home were only informed of our successes, not of the many times some of our young lads were shot or blown to pieces for the NG Church and the State.”

Smal said that the lives of many paralysed men show a heartbreaking pattern.

First, their girlfriends leave them, unable to cope with shattered dreams and poor future prospects. Next, their friends desert them, unwilling to stand by people who are a shadow of their former selves. Then, brothers and sisters start visiting less and eventually stop visiting altogether. In most cases, wheelchair-bound people are left with their ageing mothers. They often only see the outside of their homes, and interact with others, when their caretakers go shopping and leave them at the entrances of shopping centres. Many of them die in their late 50s or early 60s of kidney failure.”

In desperation for a roof over their heads and something to eat, there are homeless war veterans who accept accommodation from old-age homes and mental institutions. But, before long, they plead to get out because they just don’t fit in and feel that they are worse off.

In going racing, Smal said, he has found an activity truly loved and appreciated by the ‘wheelchair family’.

“We were wonderfully assisted by the hospitality department at Turffontein, entertained in the Beau Art Room, a first-class facility behind glass, and the food was great. They took a few of us around the track, showed us the parades, and so on. We had the celebrity artist Mathys Roets with us that day. He was injured in a motorcycle accident several years ago. Mathys placed some bets, he actually won a bit of money. He said he’d never shouted so hard in his life. Everyone was pleased with their experience.

“I think what they especially like are the gracious movements of the thoroughbred horses, how they gallop and stretch out with the jockeys on their backs, riding them on so eagerly. They see living beings racing at high speed, using their limbs, and they enjoy the camaraderie of people in similar predicaments. Racing offers an escape, in a truly unique way.”

RamCat Fish is entirely dependent on donations. Gerard Smal can be reached on 081 754 8144 or by mail on ystersmal@gmail.com

Above:  At Turffontein: (l to r): Norman Wright, Ken Bronfield, Mathys Roets, Gavin Lerena, Tharina Scholtz, Jacques le Roux.