A WEST Devon family is appealing for help to raise funds to pay for a life-altering operation for a family friend in Zimbabwe.

Keith Coulston and Chris Simpson, from Whitchurch, are hoping to raise almost £13,000 to cover surgery and other medical expenses for 30-year-old Tafadzwa Violet Mandipaza (Violet), a paraplegic who has recently been diagnosed with syringomyelia — a cyst on the spinal cord.

Keith said: ‘Our family became friends with the Mandipazas in the 1980s when Chris and I taught in Zimbabwe during which time our daughter Rosie was born within two months of Violet.

‘Violet is a paraplegic following a car accident in 2013 just after she gained a BSc in Agricultural Science, post-harvest technology and food security. Her father died unexpectedly in 2012, leaving Violet’s mother to look after Violet and her two sisters — one of whom has a learning disability. Violet’s mother is a subsistence farmer living 10km from Nyazura, a small town accessed by dirt road.’

Keith said despite the enormous daily challenges, Violet was studying for a Masters in development studies at the Women’s University in Harare, to which she has to find lifts in her wheelchair every weekend during semesters. Violet also supports other disabled people in her community by holding peer support meetings and empowering others to become more self-sufficient.

‘Violet is a charismatic, optimistic and cheerful person, determined to succeed,’ said Keith. ‘But following a recent increase in extremely painful spasms, friends and the SmileStar charity paid for new MRI scans. The diagnosis from the scans is that Violet has syringomyelia — a disorder in which a cyst forms within the spinal cord that can expand over time destroying the spinal cord. If untreated this will be life threatening and includes increased and severe pain, loss of sensation, bladder dysfunction, dysaesthesia and other conditions.’

The surgery and related medical care that Violet requires will cost her £12,855. The surgery alone will cost £4,640, the anaesthetist will cost £2,320, the hospital stay will cost £3,850 and the post-operative MRI scans will cost a further £1,075. The total also includes the cost of post-operative consultations, medications, travel to and from Harare, personal care items such as catheters and pads and a new wheelchair.

Violet said: ‘The operation would mean freedom to live my life fully and independently as now I am so limited in daily activities and need an aid for almost everything. The pain restricts me a lot.’

Anyone who would like to help Keith and Chris give Violet a new lease of life can do so by visiting the website www.gofundme.com/free-violet-from-pain