Tristan’s Hope

Tristan is 19 years old and was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at the of age 12.

He was always sick and they always said that he had Asthma but we were not convinced but he got very sick and had to be hospitalized. Once in hospital we told the pediatrician of all the symptoms he has had over the years. He told us he is going to do a lot of tests, and finally came back with Cystic fibroses and did the test twice to be completely sure and it was positive.

This is the day our lives and Tristan’s life changed. We were devastated as there was no cure and the symptoms can only be managed.

We have two family members that has passed from this disease and so we knew we were in for difficult time.

At first the treatments were helping but the last two years Tristan has deterioted and to the point where we called in by the doctors and said that are busy losing Tristan.

As parents that is the one conversation that you dread having that you are running out of time with your child. Matthew and myself were broken as well as his older two brothers.

Tristan needs life changing medication Trikafta which is extremely expensive. Patients that have been on this miracle drug have seen excellent results and their lives extend with years.

Tristan is an amazing child and in fact from the minute he was born I thought he was Angel sent to us.

• We are moving to a new medical aid that covers this medicine but there is two year waiting period during which our out of pocket expenses are R400 000.
• Please consider to donate once-off or on a monthly basis until Aug 2027.
• All donations are eligible for a tax benefit.

Update 5 August 2025:

It’s been 2 weeks since Tristan came out of hospital. He is eating very well and has put on a bit of weight he is still on oxygen 24 hours a day but his down from 4 liters to 2 liters in the day and 3 liters at night. His taking it one day at a time and really staying positive.

Update 6 February 2026

Tristan is doing fine he now weighss 49.7 kg and his lung function is still only 32% but she’s very happy with everything else.

Update 21 April 2026

Thank you to each and everyone who have supported Tristan and his family to reach his fundraising goal. This means the world to Tristan and everyone at Breathtaking NPC. We are deeply thankful to each and everyone who have supported this project. 

Let’s celebrate more breaths together!