THE KID WHO CAN’T EAT:

This is story of a teenager by the name of Chantelle Jones. She lives in a small town called Welkom which is situated in the Free State Province. Chantelle was two years old when her parents realised that something was wrong with her.

Chantelle cannot eat food that teenagers normally enjoy eating such as a plate of chips or a pizza. One bite could kill her. When Chantelle was two years old she was taken to a Welkom hospital where she suddenly threw up. The child specialist doctor (paediatrician) suspected there was an obstruction somewhere but he could not be sure. She was transferred to a hospital in Bloemfontein where another specialist found her colon (the lower and greater part of the large intestine) had not developed properly. She could not digest any food that she ate. The only “food” that Chantelle can live on everyday is four glasses of a substance that looks like curdled milk.


Chantelle was discharged from hospital and she was able to grow up as any other child because her small intestine took over the faulty colon. When she turned nine she became very ill. Her stomach swelled up and she vomited and suffered incredible pain. Due to the defective colon and small intestine that she was born with, she had to wear a colostomy bag – and artificial organ for her defective colon and small intestine. She could not play sport because she was shamed to change in front of her friends and sometimes other learners teased her mercilessly.

No one knows if Chantelle will have to take the substitute for the rest of her life. If so, it will cost her more than R5 million just to feed herself.


In the meantime she just adds red jelly to make is taste better…..

Chantelle has pinned her hopes on a Cape Town specialist. He will surgically try to improve the functioning of her small intestine. However, there has never been a successful colon transplant.
Like her friends, Chantelle dreams about what she will do when she grows up. “I want to help other people”, she says. But she will always long for the day when she can eat a plate of chips again and a pizza.