Clarendon Girls’ High School has named a rowing boat in honour of former pupil Lydia Labuschagne, who died of an allergic reaction to sesame seed.
Labuschagne died, at 30, in Israel on March 21 this year.
On Friday the school held a special naming ceremony at the Boat House on the Buffalo River.
Rowing coach Bill Godfrey, who with Peter van Kets in 2008 won the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race, said Labuschagne was a passionate rower.
He said she was instrumental in introducing rowing to Clarendon.
“She was one of the first rowers and her parents are also very special to the school and with her passing still so recent, it’s just fitting that we honour her and the role she played,” Godfrey said.
He said the new boat, a double scull, cost close to R150000. “We raised the money to buy the boat through diligent fundraising.”
The ceremony was attended by Lydia’s parents Jan and Margy Labuschagne and former teammates Kim Strydom and Rose-Anne Koch, who were the first to take the new boat out on the river.
Margy said her daughter died after eating a sesame seed based sauce while touring in Israel earlier this year.
Labuschagne knew she was allergic to sesame seeds but had no idea that the tehina sauce she had was sesame-based.
She remained in the intensive care unit at the Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Tel Aviv until she succumbed to the severe allergic reaction.
Shortly after her death, the Times of Israel newspaper ran a report on how five people’s lives were saved by Lydia’s organs.
One of the recipients was 33-year-old mother of three, Miri Avrahami, whose liver collapsed.
Professor Eytan Mor, who heads the Rabin Medical Centre’s Organ Transplantation department, told a reporter that Avrahami would not have been able to wait another day for an organ donation – possibly not even another 12 hours.
Margy expressed her gratitude to the school at ceremony.
“Being here at the river, and especially with her former teammates, it brings back so many memories and it is so humbling to see that she touched so many people’s lives, and we truly appreciate the school for wanting to keep her memory,” she said.
Jan said it was reassuring to know that the school has not forgotten his daughter.
“It makes us feel really special as well and it is so heartwarming to know that the school still respects her and the contribution she made to the school, we couldn’t be happier,” said Jan. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
Clarendon remembers school’s rowing pioneer
Labuschagne died, at 30, in Israel on March 21 this year.
On Friday the school held a special naming ceremony at the Boat House on the Buffalo River.
Rowing coach Bill Godfrey, who with Peter van Kets in 2008 won the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race, said Labuschagne was a passionate rower.
He said she was instrumental in introducing rowing to Clarendon.
“She was one of the first rowers and her parents are also very special to the school and with her passing still so recent, it’s just fitting that we honour her and the role she played,” Godfrey said.
He said the new boat, a double scull, cost close to R150000. “We raised the money to buy the boat through diligent fundraising.”
The ceremony was attended by Lydia’s parents Jan and Margy Labuschagne and former teammates Kim Strydom and Rose-Anne Koch, who were the first to take the new boat out on the river.
Margy said her daughter died after eating a sesame seed based sauce while touring in Israel earlier this year.
Labuschagne knew she was allergic to sesame seeds but had no idea that the tehina sauce she had was sesame-based.
She remained in the intensive care unit at the Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Tel Aviv until she succumbed to the severe allergic reaction.
Shortly after her death, the Times of Israel newspaper ran a report on how five people’s lives were saved by Lydia’s organs.
One of the recipients was 33-year-old mother of three, Miri Avrahami, whose liver collapsed.
Professor Eytan Mor, who heads the Rabin Medical Centre’s Organ Transplantation department, told a reporter that Avrahami would not have been able to wait another day for an organ donation – possibly not even another 12 hours.
Margy expressed her gratitude to the school at ceremony.
“Being here at the river, and especially with her former teammates, it brings back so many memories and it is so humbling to see that she touched so many people’s lives, and we truly appreciate the school for wanting to keep her memory,” she said.
Jan said it was reassuring to know that the school has not forgotten his daughter.
“It makes us feel really special as well and it is so heartwarming to know that the school still respects her and the contribution she made to the school, we couldn’t be happier,” said Jan. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
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