Charity gala raises R97,000 for Greg |31 July 2014

A sum of R97,000 has been raised through an auction sale during the fifth charity gala organised by the Friends of Seychelles in aid of Greg Jacques.

The event took place on Saturday night at the Savoy Seychelles Resort & Spa and it proved to be an emotional night for many.

Speaking to Seychelles Nation, chairman of the Friends of Seychelles, Barry Laine said they raised R74,000 in auction prizes and another R23,000 through the sale of raffle tickets.

He added that they will now wait for the Ministry of Health’s decision to know when Greg will be travelling to Sri Lanka for further treatment.
Greg is bed-ridden and paralysed after being involved in a car crash on the highway in 2005 and is the first recipient of the Trevor Renaud award.

When she introduced Greg’s mother – Anne Jacques – to the guests, Lise Church, patron of Friends of Seychelles, said: “She keeps Greg very cheerful and when we met her a year ago, she told us that she has high hopes Greg will walk again.”

In an article entitled ‘Giving people with disabilities a chance to show their worth’ published under our Up Close column of April 8, 2014, Mrs Jacques, the founder and chairperson of Love and Care Association, told Seychelles Nation journalist Marie-Anne Lepathy that she is positive about life.

“I believe in myself and I lean on God in order to have the strength to continue living my life. I have a strong belief that my son will be on his feet again one day and this gives me strength to help other disabled,” Mrs Jacques told Mrs Lepathy.

Following the tragic accident on the highway in July 2005 which left him severely injured, Greg spent six months in Reunion to follow medical treatment. Returning from Reunion Greg was confined to a wheelchair.  The 28-year-old is morally stable but is bedridden and awaits more treatment.

Seychelles Petroleum Company has agreed to provide Greg with his airline ticket to Sri Lanka, Seashell Travel will pay for his carer’s airfares and Mihin Lanka airline will help with the travel arrangement.

Mrs Church also explained that the Trevor Renaud award is in honour of a young – Trevor Renaud – and it got the approval of his mother who was present on the night.

Born with a congenital heart disease, Trevor was not expected to live past six months but he did after undergoing four operations. He even followed training in the United States of America to become an emergency technician and when he came back to Seychelles he became an asset for the Seychelles Red Cross and his community.

He even started a family and had twins but unfortunately he fell ill and passed away after surgery in Europe.

Although the atmosphere was some time tense at some point during the evening, the guests got to enjoy the lovely dinner and dance the night away to the sounds of the Island Fever band.

Among other projects the Friends of Seychelles has worked on include fencing the three-acre property at the Foyer de Nazareth for the safety of the children, renovating the vocational workshop at the Rehabilitation Centre at North East Point, and gifting bed linen, towels, bed clothes, night dresses and underwear, T-shirts, plastic jugs, soup and some cookies to elderly people in different homes.