What started out as a heart-warming gesture of inclusion during matric ball season turned into a devastating blow for Chelse-Leigh Tiemie, a 17-year-old living with a disability, when Heideveld Senior Secondary allegedly uninvited her days before the event on Tuesday.
Chelse-Leigh suffered severe brain injury following a hit-and-run on Duinefontein Road in Heideveld on October 17, 2020.
She was a pupil at the school at the time, but has since been at home on the road to recovery. She is wheelchair and bed bound, has had to learn how to eat and is still in the process of learning how to sit up, stand and talk.
The family maintained a warm relationship with the school until the matric ball incident. They said the school had allowed her to get a matric jacket with her name on it as well as her matric name badge, “so she is actually still a part of this institution regardless of what the accident did to her”.
Chelse-Leigh’s father Alrich Willis said: “In June/July I found out the school was doing IDs for matriculants.
That day as I thanked the subject head (for accommodating Chelse-Leigh), she told me unofficially this is her invite to the school’s matric ball as they hadn’t yet sent the formal invitations. Chelse was the first one being invited, she said, so she will notify me. Humbly I accepted the invite and informed her that it will then only be to take photos as part of her diary at the venue and she won't be there longer than an hour for the most.”
Excitement for the family grew as preparations were made, from a dress to hair, make-up and nails.
However, the joyous occasion took a sharp turn when, on Friday the family said they received the news that Chelse-Leigh was no longer invited due to unforeseen circumstances.
“It broke me. How could they put us on such a high just to drop us on the last minute. It is something we looked forward to. Something to motivate Chelse to show her there is care. It would make her feel she is part of something,” Willis said.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Millicent Merton said according to the school, the father responded to the invitation too late.
“All guests had to respond to the invitation that was sent to them.
Regrettably, the father responded late to the invitation. The school has always reached out to the family and the former learner was included in various school activities.”
She added that the department would not intervene as matric balls are “extra-curricular activities and considered to be a matter between matric parents and the school”.
Cape Times