It was Swartz’s late husband who convinced her to take the job as the centre’s matron, even if it meant driving more than 100km a day.
The qualified nurse had just recovered from severe Covid-19 which saw her hospitalised for over a month when she was offered the job at the centre.
“When I came here and looked around, I wasn’t keen but my husband convinced me to take it.
“When I walked through these doors I saw a great need here. As a nursing sister, I could not walk out and abandon this dire need,” Swartz said.
Since joining the centre, Swartz has made several changes to make the residents’ stay as healthy and enjoyable as possible.
Often paying from her own pocket, she introduced several activities including regular outings to the circus, theatre or beach, open visiting hours for residents to spend time with family members, beauty treatments and pampering sessions, potjie and entertainment days, as well as individual birthday celebrations to make every resident feel special.
Swartz also introduced a breakfast buffet table and a vegetable garden.
“I encourage independence.
“These are adults who can think for themselves and have choices, so they must be treated as such and allowed to decide for themselves what they want to eat and what they want to do.
“They aren’t children. They’re not at boarding school.
“Everyone is encouraged to live a life that makes them happy,” Swartz said.
With Jack’s help, she also installed a new washing line, opened a bigger laundry room for the staff and opened a second fire escape.
She is in the process of securing inverters for the centre to help during load-shedding.
Swartz who is meant to be off on weekends and work half days on public holidays often finds herself at work or attending to work-related issues.
All this while Swartz also juggles her own personal challenges such as caring for her husband who battled a terminal illness, raising her handicapped son and long lasting after-effects of Covid-19.
“This is not work for me. It all comes from the heart.
“I always tell my staff not to treat this as a job. If someone wants a job they must look elsewhere. Here we truly care,” she said.
Residents and staff hailed Swartz as a changemaker whose appointment at the centre changed their lives for the better.
For Sandy Swartz, caring for the elderly is more than just a job
Personal tragedy fails to get in way of dedication to residents of Kidd’s Beach centre
Image: RANDELL ROSKRUGE
When a Daily Dispatch team visited the Kidd’s Beach Care Centre on Friday morning, a visibly distracted Sandy Swartz had just lost her husband a few hours before.
Yet, she had dressed up and drove about 100km from Stutterheim to be with the 13 elderly men and women she cares for at the centre.
She had known Jack, her husband and biggest supporter, since she was just 17. He played a supportive role in her tenure as the Kidd’s Beach Care Centre’s matron in the last 2½ years.
“I love these people. My husband would’ve wanted me to see this through.
“He was proud of me for this and he was going to come with me today to support me,” a teary Swartz said, insisting on the interview continuing despite her loss.
Swartz was nominated by Jordan Clarke for the Local Heroes awards in honour of her selfless dedication to the centre.
Clarke said Swartz had radically changed the concept of old age institutions for her residents, through her holistic approach to care.
“Sandy respects the fact that these folk are adults and treats them accordingly, which has resulted in them becoming more independent and eradicating depression and hopelessness,” Jordan said.
“A big bright light has been shone on a forgotten area of our society. It is expected that when we reach a certain age, frailty or dependence, the quality of life must also cease, or dramatically decline.
“We have all accepted this as the fate of those of us who get to this point.
“This is in fact a fallacy, as this new and improved approach has proven that life can in fact be lived to complete and utter satisfaction, right to the very end,” Clarke said.
Image: RANDELL ROSKRUGE
It was Swartz’s late husband who convinced her to take the job as the centre’s matron, even if it meant driving more than 100km a day.
The qualified nurse had just recovered from severe Covid-19 which saw her hospitalised for over a month when she was offered the job at the centre.
“When I came here and looked around, I wasn’t keen but my husband convinced me to take it.
“When I walked through these doors I saw a great need here. As a nursing sister, I could not walk out and abandon this dire need,” Swartz said.
Since joining the centre, Swartz has made several changes to make the residents’ stay as healthy and enjoyable as possible.
Often paying from her own pocket, she introduced several activities including regular outings to the circus, theatre or beach, open visiting hours for residents to spend time with family members, beauty treatments and pampering sessions, potjie and entertainment days, as well as individual birthday celebrations to make every resident feel special.
Swartz also introduced a breakfast buffet table and a vegetable garden.
“I encourage independence.
“These are adults who can think for themselves and have choices, so they must be treated as such and allowed to decide for themselves what they want to eat and what they want to do.
“They aren’t children. They’re not at boarding school.
“Everyone is encouraged to live a life that makes them happy,” Swartz said.
With Jack’s help, she also installed a new washing line, opened a bigger laundry room for the staff and opened a second fire escape.
She is in the process of securing inverters for the centre to help during load-shedding.
Swartz who is meant to be off on weekends and work half days on public holidays often finds herself at work or attending to work-related issues.
All this while Swartz also juggles her own personal challenges such as caring for her husband who battled a terminal illness, raising her handicapped son and long lasting after-effects of Covid-19.
“This is not work for me. It all comes from the heart.
“I always tell my staff not to treat this as a job. If someone wants a job they must look elsewhere. Here we truly care,” she said.
Residents and staff hailed Swartz as a changemaker whose appointment at the centre changed their lives for the better.
Staff member Amanda Kutshwayo said Swartz was like a mother to both staff and residents.
“Sister Sandy loves us so much and has made all the residents feel like being old is not the end of the world.
“Everyday she does something different to make everyone happy and feel loved,” she said.
The sad news of Swartz’s loss came as she was planning to surprise the residents with an outing to the Lion Park on its last weekend before closure.
DispatchLIVE
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