• A 6-year-old girl from the Cape Flats has made a remarkable impact on her blind parents, often helping them navigate daily life.
• The little girl, a Grade R pupil born with healthy vision, was accepted at a mainstream school in Rondebosch and is excelling academically.
• Despite their disabilities, her proud parents have asked their community for assistance on BackaBuddy to give their daughter the school dream they could never have themselves.

In the heart of the Cape Flats, a 6-year-old girl is proving that age is no obstacle to making a meaningful impact.

Despite her young age, the child of Adrian and Sharon Davids has become a guiding light and source of strength for her blind parents, often demonstrating exceptional emotional intelligence as she helps them navigate daily life.

Now her parents want to return the favour to their daughter, who was accepted into a well-known Rondebosch-based school this year in Grade R and is excelling academically.

Adrian and Sharon are both visually impaired, but their daughter, whose name they have asked to be kept private, was born with healthy vision and has the chance to excel at a top school in Cape Town’s southern suburbs.

They have turned to their community, who have come out in numbers on BackaBuddy to help raise the funds for her first year of Grade 1 – and give her the opportunity that the visually impaired parents would never have dreamt for themselves.

A daughter’s respect, verbal cues and losing a trusty guide dog

Adrian and Sharon emphasised that they were fully capable of managing their lives independently.

However, it’s the small, thoughtful gestures their daughter makes that touch their hearts every single day.

Adrian, who works as a facilitator, said because their daughter was still so young, they were unsure how much she truly understood about their blindness or whether she fully grasped what it means that her parents could not see.

“She interacts with us with such respect,” he shared. “While we’ve taught her good manners like saying please, thank you, yes, and no, children can sometimes just shake their heads instead. But not her. She always ensures there are verbal cues, which we see as an added bonus. She speaks clearly, making sure we understand her instead of leaving us to guess what she’s thinking.”

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Adrian, 45, lost his sight at the age of 11 due to complications from hydrocephalus, a condition that causes fluid build-up around the brain.

The shunt that doctors inserted to drain the fluid unfortunately damaged his optic nerve, leading to his blindness.

In recent months, he has been coping with the loss of his guide dog, Wisp, who had been by his side for 10 years.

The pain of losing the yellow Labrador two months ago has been too overwhelming for him to consider applying for a new guide dog just yet.

Throughout this challenging time, his young daughter has been a source of unwavering support.

‘Look left, look right, it became a little game’

“She and I would walk outside, and because I am not immobile, I have full trust in taking her hand and walking with her. When we have to cross the road, I would ask her what she learned about that [day] in school, and she would say, ‘You have to look left, look right, and look left again before we cross’. We would make a little game of it,” he said proudly.

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According to Sharon, 36, who gradually lost her vision over the years after she was born with a genetic eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa, her daughter had a certain awareness that would not be expected from a child her age.

“She is very observant. You can also hear it in the way she speaks and in the verbal cues she uses to make sure we know what is happening. While an able-bodied child may probably say: ‘Mommy, look here’, she would automatically take my hand, place it on an object, and then tell me, ‘Mommy, look here’,” she said.

“She knows that there is a difference between able-bodied parents and us and that she would have to do things a bit differently.”

Sharon said it warmed her heart to hear her daughter help her father, especially now that he no longer had Wisp by his side.

“The two of them go walking a lot, and she would tell him if there’s a step somewhere, for instance, as she holds his hand.”

The struggles of being blind parents to an exceptional child

Adrian and Sharon have done an admirable job raising their daughter, but they shared with News24 that being blind parents to a young child had never been easy and continued to present challenges.

One of their biggest struggles was securing a school for their daughter, as many schools turned them away, citing full capacity.

Sharon said so many schools rejected their daughter’s application that they were compelled to write multiple letters of appeal.

This effort eventually led a school in Rondebosch to invite them to a meeting.

When asked if they could afford the school fees, Sharon simply responded:

The school accepted their daughter, but the financial burden of school fees, along with next year’s uniform and stationery costs, is already a significant strain on the family.

Adding to their challenges are transport costs.

Currently, Sharon and her mother, who is a pensioner, rely on taxis and trains to take the little girl to and from school daily, as they cannot afford reliable private transportation.

Nine months ago, even before their daughter started school, the couple launched a BackaBuddy campaign to raise funds. This included covering costs for swimming lessons, extracurricular activities, transport, and activities that are part of the school’s curriculum.

They have collected just over R31 000 against a target of R100 000.

Adrian expressed gratitude, saying that every contribution made a meaningful difference.

“We were just so thankful for the help because my salary isn’t very big, and we’re currently living with my mother-in-law,” he said.

Sharon, who is unemployed, opened up about the judgement they have faced because their daughter attends a school in Rondebosch.

‘They gave her a chance’

“People have made comments about us sending her to ‘a private school’ far away when we could have enrolled her in a local school,” she said. “It’s not a private school, and I keep explaining that we applied to many schools but were rejected. This was the only school that gave her a chance. No one else would accept her.”

Sharon also addressed misconceptions about blind people, saying: “Some people think blind people are just dumb. I went to a mainstream school and matriculated, but even able-bodied people struggle with unemployment. Imagine how much harder it is for a blind person to find a job.”

As a mother, she emphasised her commitment to her daughter’s happiness and well-being, saying:

“Let’s be honest, having blind parents isn’t nice, and I’m very protective of her. I don’t want her to feel it’s her fault or for it to be held against her.”

Sharon concluded by sharing their hopes for their daughter. “Our dream is for her never to feel ashamed that her parents are blind. We want her to grow up safe, with a good education.

“We try to protect her because we love her so much. Despite our blindness, we are deeply grateful for the privilege of being her parents.”

If you have a feel good story to tell, email [email protected]. If you’d like to visit Adrian and Sharon’s BackaBuddy page, click here.