Finding Answers for Sias: When Hope Meets Advanced Imaging
At just one year and nine months old, little Sias from Robertson has already faced more medical challenges than many adults do in a lifetime.
Yet if you met him today, you might not guess it.
You’d see a lively toddler chasing after a ball, bouncing on a trampoline, and filling the room with the infectious energy only a young child can bring. Behind that playful spirit, however, lies a story of resilience, uncertainty, and a mother determined to find answers.
Sias was only ten months old when doctors discovered he was suffering from severe anaemia and an immune deficiency that left him constantly ill. Months of doctor visits, tests, and anxious waiting followed before the correct diagnosis and treatment finally helped him begin to recover and grow stronger. For a brief moment, life started to feel normal again.
Then something changed.
Jolanda, his mother, first noticed sudden jerking movements in his arm. Over time, the episodes became more concerning—sometimes spreading through his upper body and occurring several times within the space of twenty minutes. Initial medical assessments raised the possibility that these episodes could be seizures, with early tests pointing to epilepsy.
Doctors needed to determine exactly what was happening—and quickly.
To do that, Sias required an advanced MRI scan of his brain.
For any parent, the thought of neurological tests, hospitals, and machines can feel overwhelming. For Sias’s mother, the uncertainty was even harder. Determined to do everything she could for her son, she launched a BackaBuddy campaign to raise funds for the specialised care and investigations he would need. Through this campaign, Morton & Partners Radiologists learned about Sias’s story and offered to assist, ensuring he would receive the advanced imaging required.
Sias travelled from Robertson to Vincent Pallotti Hospital in Cape Town, where the team at Morton & Partners Radiologists will perform an MRI scan that could help unlock the answers his family has been searching for.
MRI imaging is one of the most powerful diagnostic tools in modern medicine. Unlike many other imaging methods, it produces highly detailed images of the brain without using radiation, allowing doctors to examine its structure with remarkable precision. In young children, this technology is particularly valuable, as they are often unable to explain what they are feeling or experiencing. Imaging allows doctors to see what may be happening inside the brain, helping guide diagnosis and treatment decisions.
MRI scans do, however, require patients to remain completely still—something that can be especially challenging for young children.
Recognising this need, Morton & Partners recently introduced a dedicated MR Anaesthetic Unit at Vincent Pallotti Hospital. This specialised unit allows anaesthetists to safely sedate young patients so that critical imaging can be performed accurately and comfortably.
The unit is one of only a few within the Morton & Partners network across the Western Cape.
While highly specialised, its purpose is simple: to ensure that even the smallest patients can access the best possible diagnostic imaging.
For families like Sias’s, that technology represents far more than just medical equipment.
It represents hope.
“Children often can’t tell us what they’re feeling,” explains Dr Marc Jordaan, a specialist in paediatric and neuroradiology at Morton & Partners. “Imaging allows us to see what they cannot explain. That insight can be incredibly important in guiding the next steps in care.”
For Sias’s family, the upcoming scan marks an important milestone—a step towards understanding what may be happening inside their little boy’s brain.
For now, the goal is simple: find answers.
And give a small boy with a big spirit the healthiest future possible.
If Sias has his way, those first steps may one day lead him onto a rugby field—proudly running out as a Springbok scrumhalf.